


We'll Play Hide and Seek To Turn This Around

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Hopeful Ending, Injury Recovery, Introspection, Investigations, Kidnapping, Multi, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, OT3, Psychological Trauma, Rape Recovery, Wizarding Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:48:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: Grindelwald has been apprehended and Percival Graves is still missing and his absence weighs heavily not only on MACUSA, but on Tina as well. She tells herself she has to find him to contain the damage that Grindelwald caused. But there is much more to that simple explanation she is willing to admit.Yet when Percival Graves is found and Newt returns bearing more magical creatures and disturbing news, Tina finds she has to come to terms with everything she refused to face in the past and what she refuses to face in the present.





	1. You Know I'll Fight My Corner

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in the HP universe in a long time and then Fantastic Beasts came out. Seeing Colin Farrell and Eddie Redmayne and reading the amazing stories that have come forth from this have inspired me to write my own story also. I love Newt and Tina together, but I was very curious as to whethere there could have been chemistry between Tina and Mr. Graves as well. So this curiosity led me to this. 
> 
> Some parts will have angst as Graves comes to terms with what happened to him. Despite his character, I don't see him just going back to normal life. Grindelwald is not a kind man and I doubt that he'd just kill Graves. I see him more as someone to draw out torture and enjoy that than actual death. But there will be Newt and Queenie and beasts to balance it out.
> 
> Edited, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed. Title is from Ed Sheeran's Give Me Love.

He had been dreaming of better days. Of sunshine on his face and the air that rolled in from the harbour. Of days in his ordered office in the Woolworth building. Of hot, fragrant coffee and buttery rolls. Of soft sheets and subtle perfume and a pair of soft brown eyes under a-

He snapped awake, only just registering the twilit darkness. He shut his eyes and counted to three before he opened them again. 

When Percival opened his eyes, he nearly let out a sob of frustration at seeing himself in the same prison he had been in for...He didn’t know. He had lost track of time. Grindelwald wanted it that way. He had incorporated that into his torments, not letting him sleep a full night’s or day’s sleep until Percival wasn’t sure which way was up. He had left him in the twilight of a basement cellar, cold and with only just enough water and food to survive until he came back again. 

Until the next time, when he had proceeded to drag him to another floor, chain him to the tiled floor, and sluice him down with icy water until Percival could only just keep from screaming. He was clean and cold, the water stinging all the lacerations, cuts and open sores on his body, but he didn’t cry out. He had learned it just invited more abuse. And even with his dignity in tatters, he still had a sharp sense of self-preservation. Even when blood filled his mouth from biting nearly through his lip, he did not cry out. 

Grindelwald hadn’t commented then. Only fixed those mismatched grotesque eyes on him as he had spelled Percy onto a thin straw mattress. Percival had tried to mask the shudder that having Grindelwald's gaze upon him caused, yet even with all his training, he couldn’t mask the revulsion and fear it left behind. Maybe if he had been in top shape, he would have succeeded. But after being abused and starved and tormented for so long, he was as raw as a new recruit. 

And Grindelwald knew this and  _ smiled _ . A smile that was so wintry and devoid of any kind of humanity that it made his empty stomach clench painfully. He hadn’t seen that smile before, but Percival was fully aware that it spelled nothing good for him. Grindelwald had two expressions available to him: Stoic indifference and subtle amusement. Seeing that thin lipped smile made him even more afraid than he had ever been in the time that he had been held captive by Grindelwald. 

He knew that there was going to be hell to pay. Despite the expectation of it, the sick anticipation, it scared Percival. Whatever it was that was coming would irrevocably hurt him. Quite possibly wound him to the point that he wouldn’t ever fully recover from. He was strong, but he doubted he was as strong as he had been before his capture. 

And Grindelwald _knew_ it. The slow flickering of his eyelids as he came closer to Percival showed him this. He moved to lie beside him in a parody of how a lover would have moved onto the mattress. Percival had tried to fight back, despite being completely bound by the curse had hadn’t realised had been cast upon him. Grindelwald watched his futile struggles with that same horrific smile on his face as his hand slid over the bruised and discoloured landscape that was Percival’s body. It felt like sandpaper as it moved from his chest down to his hip and between his legs. 

Percival’s breathing quickened and he looked past Grindelwald's shoulder as those long fingers moved against him. They touched him and he breathed sharply as his body responded. He wanted to scream, wanted to shove him away and take that small amount of autonomy back. But he couldn’t. All he could do was watch as he was violated.

Then he felt it. The sharp nails, slicing skin into ribbons. 

It was then that he found that he could still scream.

And Grindelwald laughed.

~*~*~*~*~

Tina sat at her desk and ran her ink-stained fingertips down the the equally stained blotter that covered the top. Her quill had long been returned to its place at the top of her desk and stood beside the inkwell that had long been screwed shut. She cast a glance at her neatly stacked paperwork sitting on the out tray and looked up at the large clock in the Auror office. She had time to kill until she would be able to leave without rousing suspicion or being stopped by another well-meaning and sympathetic person.

She didn’t know which were worse: The ones that wanted to express their condolences over not noticing that Graves was not himself, or the ones that shot thinly veiled barbs at her slow progress on finding him. Some days, the insinuations and implications were worse. On some frustrating days, it was the sympathy that got to her. Other days, she would simply stay in the field and scour as many leads as she possibly could. 

She found at times, that was the only thing assuaging the guilt that welled up in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about how they had been fooled. How  _ she _ had been fooled. It rankled and filled her mouth with a bitter taste whenever she recalled interacting with the impostor. How she had looked for some semblance of the warmth she had seen in his eyes when she had started working under him. How she had tried to deny any of the feelings that she had gradually developed for him after she had been demoted to the wands permit office so that she could function. She had felt like a fool and pushed everything down so deep that not even Queenie could detect a hint of them.

This was done while she had taken up residence in the wand permit office under the watchful eye of Abernathy, who was a decent, if somewhat starched sort. Working under her had made her miss working under Mr. Graves even more. Despite his reputation, Mr. Graves had been a good guy who could be counted on to be fair. Although he was intensely private and highly independent, he did have more than censure to give to his underlings. 

Tina could still recall his close lipped smile when a case had been successful. Or the very rare, but highly coveted words of rare praise that he could manage when he saw good Auror work. She missed all of that compared to the bureaucracy that Abernathy represented and worked hard to uphold. And she missed seeing all of the signs that maybe could have given them a clue as to when Grindelwald had appeared on the scene. 

All of this, she had forced herself to banish out of her mind. She loved her sister, but there were only so many sympathetic glances that she could tolerate. Tina knew that it was imperative to find Graves. Not only because they all desperately needed the closure, but also to see exactly how far the corruption had been introduced and spread into MACUSA. Grindelwald had proven how dangerous he was and if the reports from Newt were any indication, he had already laid the groundwork for his dangerous ideologies in Europe.

They had to do anything and everything to stop the rot from spreading in the US. The hints were already there that something worse than the Great War was on its way. They would be fools to ignore what Grindelwald had done. So they had to find Graves.

That was what she told herself. That was what her sister believed when she accidentally caught a glimpse of Tina’s thoughts in unguarded moments. If she didn’t touch the other reason why she needed to find him, she could convince herself it was for the greater good and for her work as an Auror. She was close to doing so. So close. 

Maybe she would succeed in believing what she told herself one day.

She glanced at the clock and then at the near empty office. It was time to go home and make good on her promise to Queenie she would be the one taking care of supper that night. She gathered up her suitcase and slipped on her coat. She straightened the brim of her soft cloche hat and pushed her chair in before picking up her suitcase and leaving, her footsteps echoing as she walked. 

She breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the office, her breath catching in her throat as she passed by the closed off office of Mr. Graves. The guilt welled up in her throat at the sight of it and it swept through her like an ocean wave. She took a shuddering breath to dispel the effects on her, but the sight of that closed door and the shiny plaque on it with Mr. Graves full name on it broke the dam inside of her. It all came forward and it was that torrent of emotion mixed with memories of soft brown eyes, the faint scent of bergamot, and rare gleams of affection that decided her next action for her.

Although there had been no official decree from Madame President or the council, it had been tacitly understood that Mr. Graves’ office was not to be disturbed until further notice. Only rudimentary wards had been placed on the door when it was shut and Tina knew them all. It was no trouble for her to dispel them and slip inside. 

She shut the door quickly and quietly, slumping against the door in relief and to gather her bearings. Although she wasn’t a stickler for the rules as Mr. Graves, Tina did try to at least follow them in the spirit if not the letter. This was clearly not following the rules to the letter, but she was too far gone to back out now. So she muttered a soft  _ “Lumos” _ and looked around the office that looked as if it hadn’t changed. 

At least it didn’t at first glance. She made the spell stronger and started to see the cracks in the facade the longer that she looked: The fingerprints on the cases, the ink blots on the blotter. The scattered stacks of reports half read and dog eared and stained with either coffee or tea. The books haphazardly put back and some even falling out of their places. All of it things she had never imagined seeing in this office. And the smell…

Tina’s nose wrinkled as she tried to place the scent that permeated the office. It wasn’t the closed off musty smell that should have been the norm in a shut off office. Even with charms, keeping the air from going stale would have been a losing battle. No. This was much different. And something that she was sure she had smelled before and fairly recently, if she was honest. 

But what exactly, she wasn’t sure of. She gave a soft noise of frustration as she tried to narrows down where she had come across it. She knew it had been when she had gone shopping with Queenie a week back. But she could recall if it had been in Queens or Manhattan. She sniffed again and it was then that she caught it. The raw, metallic scent of decay that was always apparent in Manhattan.It was faint, but it was there under the bergamot scent that was Mr. Graves’ signature. Her eyes widened as it all clicked into place and she ran out of the office. She had a lead to follow. 

~*~*~*~*~

Tina was ready to weep with frustration as she scoured the third group of warehouses in Manhattan. She had stayed away from the garment district, knowing full well she was looking for a warehouse in the meatpacking area. She had checked the warehouses for a magical signature and had so far come up empty. 

Her eyes ached and itched with the effort she was expending and her breathing was ragged, but she couldn’t think of giving up. Not yet. Not until she found him. She couldn’t leave without finding him. That was what kept spurring her on through the third warehouse, casting “ _ Revelio”  _  as she moved through the cold and drafty wooden structure. She didn’t think it was going to work, since she had moved halfway through the carcasses and tables without a spark. 

It wasn’t until she pointed her wand to the floor and cast it again that a door was revealed to her. She bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything as she opened it and cast lumos before going down the metal stairs into a white tiled room that contained a mattress and what looked to be a body.

She had found Mr. Graves. She just hoped that she wasn’t too late.

“No. No. No.” She chanted frantically, rushing to the mattress. She knelt down and touched the body. Cold, but not plastic feeling. She forced herself to not look closely at the battered and filthy body as she shakily took the pulse from the exposed neck that was crusted with barely healed abrasions. She couldn’t see his face. His head was turned towards the wall and oily, clumped together hair covered most of his face. 

Tina was glad his face was covered. She didn’t want to have the sight of his dead face imprinted into her memory for the rest of her life. She let out a soft sigh that turned into a choked off sob when she felt the faint throb of his pulse under her fingertips. It was sluggish, but it was steady.

He was alive. Oh Merlin! After all this time, Percival Graves was alive. He was alive.


	2. Told You I'd Fight My Corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina finds that there's going to be a time for reckoning now that Graves has been found. 
> 
> Graves is fighting his demons, but they won't stay down.
> 
> Newt follows his heart and knows what he has to do. 
> 
> The Pukwudgies were just an added bonus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote up most of this while watching "Penny Dreadful" and "The Lobster" and "Dead Man Down" so if it's a bit bleak, those are the reasons.  
> I have no idea why I chose Salamanca for this. I was sorted into Pukwudgie and I find it hilarious that they are basically murder porcupines.  
> Proofed, but if mistakes remain, they will be edited later.  
> Title is from "Give Me Love"

Tina was both numb from shock and exhausted by it when she finally made her way to her flat, several hours past the time that she was due to arrive. Her coat hung heavy on her shoulders and she felt as if the cold had seeped deep into her bones and she wouldn’t ever get warm again. She shivered with each step she took up to her apartment and only focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

  
She was working on autopilot as she moved, her mind still a blank slate after she had been sent home by Madame President once the swarm of aurors and healers had arrived at the scene. She had wanted to stay and help, but with what exactly, had escaped her thoroughly. It had been painfully obvious that she was redundant and shaken, so they had taken pity on her and sent her home.

She had seen that on the way home, the long walk giving her enough time to reflect over that and nothing more. It was clear now that finding Director Graves near death and horribly maltreated had shaken her more than she had realised and it was only right that she should have been sent home.

  
Tomorrow, once it passed, she would press for more information.

Right now, she needed a hot bath and meal and the comfort of her sister to chase the ghosts that Graves had awakened. The spectres that she simply couldn’t expend the energy to feel their added weight at that moment. She simply made it to the landing and unlocked the door before stepping into the warm foyer and pulling off her shoes. She was hanging up her coat and taking off her hat when the warmth and the smell of home finally registered for her.

  
She walked into the dining area and slumped into her chair before leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table and steepled her hands in front of her face. She closed her eyes and tried to get her brain to come back from the numb place it had crawled into ever since she had touched Director Graves’ neck. She couldn’t afford to let it remain there. She had to comprehend the entire situation, not just what had happened.

  
It felt like a surreal dream. After all that time with no leads, diminishing hope, and mounting despair, Graves had been found. By her alone, rather than the task force assigned to do so. All because of a random guess. A random guess that had made the difference between certain death and the recovery of the second most powerful wizard in MACUSA.

  
It belonged in one of those No-Maj novels Queenie loved to bring into the apartment, rather than being real life. It also made her stomach clench painfully at the thought of how close sh-they had been to losing Graves forever. Her face went cold, then hot as she contemplated not seeing him in the offices, or in the hallways. She had had that small comfort when she had been exiled. She may have had his shade in death, but what would be the point?

  
She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. There was no point in dwelling on that right now. Not if she wanted to get a grip on her emotions and the probing questions of her well meaning sister. She had to get her emotions under control and her thoughts innocuous enough to share, since there was no way that she wanted to completely shut her sister out.

  
She breathed deeply a few times, centering herself to almost near normalcy before she opened her eyes.

Just in time, since the door slammed open and shut, allowing her sister to come in with her pink coat billowing and her heels tapping on the floorboards before she kicked them off and levitated the groceries she had been carrying to the table. They landed with a thud, startling Tina at their appearance. Queenie made a soft noise as she gathered up her heels and took off her coat, levitating them to the hall closet before she sat down and looked at her sister.

  
“You seem a bit out of sorts, Tina.”

  
Queenie noted, no doubt picking up the surface turmoil of her mind, but not the entire cause of it. She pushed a few errant strawberry curls away from her face and tucked them behind her ear as she waited for her sister to fill her in on her day. It had been a ritual of theirs when they started working and they hadn’t ever thought of stopping it. Even during the nights when it was hard to get the words out, they still continued it.

  
“Hmm. It was a long day. Speaking of, you also seem to have had a long day. Was the office that backlogged?”

  
Tina asked, not quite answering the question to buy herself time, but also because she was genuinely curious as to why her sister had been so delayed.

  
Queenie’s face got pink at the question, telling her all that she needed to know about her sister’s activities.

She probably had gone to Jacob’s again, the pastry bag hastily tucked into the paper sack in front of her was ample proof of it. She supposed that she would have to talk to Queenie about the situation. There were only so many times that she could turn a blind eye to her activities. Even if it was true love, the statues were there for a reason.

  
Queenie reached out and tucked the paper bag deeper into the sack.

  
“I know, Teen. I know. I just…”

  
Tina reached out and put her hand on her little sister’s.

  
“It’s not fair, Queenie. I know that. But I can only look away so often. I know that you care deeply about him, but you have to stop.”

  
Queenie’s mouth twitched when she pulled out the wrapped packages from the sack.

  
“I agree that it would be highly inconvenient if you had to arrest me. I promise there will be a resolution. I won’t do that to you. Not with Percival Graves having finally been found.”

  
Tina’s eyes bulged at the casual bomb that Queenie had lobbed at her as she got up and started levitating her packages to the counters to start making a long delayed supper for them.

  
She muttered an incantation and the potatoes started peeling themselves as she readied a pot before turning to look at her sister.

  
“That was the gossip as I was leaving work. That Graves had been found.”

  
She arched an eyebrow as she looked at her sister’s pale face.

  
“You found him? Oh Teen. That must have been awful for you. I’m truly-”

  
“Please don’t, Queenie. Don’t.”

  
Tina interrupted as she felt the tears prick her eyelids.

  
Queenie bit her lip, but wisely said nothing and instead continued with her preparations.

  
“Just like you told me, Teen. You also have to take care of this.”

  
Tina nodded, shutting her eyes and pressing her fingers onto her eyelids to stop the tears.

  
“I will. As soon as it’s feasible. I will.”

  
Queenie hummed a bit as she gave her sister a quick hug before returning to her cooking.

  
“You should write to Newt in the meantime.”

  
Queenie reminded her, making the tears dry up and be replaced with a hot blush of mortification. Of course she had to tell Newt! And of course that added another layer of complications, making her groan instead.

  
“Not tonight, though, Tina. Don’t borrow trouble. Can you set the table? This is nearly ready.”

  
Tina wrinkled her nose, but did as she was told, flicking her wand and getting all the cutlery and crockery onto the table neatly and just in time for Queenie to float the delicious food over. At the sight of the hearty stew, fresh bread and burbling coffee, Tina decided to take her sister’s advice.

Tomorrow would come soon enough and tomorrow could also take care of itself.

 

~*~*~*~*

  
He had been dreaming of the cellar again. The cold, slippery white tiles, the thin, crackling mattress that made his back sore. The bitterly cold rictus on his face that was supposed to pass for a smile. The razor sharp touch of his nails on-

  
Percival jerked awake, too weak to sit upright as he had very much wanted to. As it was, he had managed to aggravate the still raw wounds on his back and inner thighs.

The potions had healed most of the other indignities forced upon his person, but there were some that even the healers had a hard time with. They suspected Grindewald’s dark magic had left a residue on some of his injuries and that was why those injuries were slow to heal.

  
Even after three weeks (He had been pathetically grateful that they had bothered to tell him what day and month it was whenever he woke up. He didn’t want to read too much into the motivations for that kindness, but he appreciated it, nonetheless) they were slow in healing and he was getting impatient to leave.

Even if it would just be to his apartment, he wanted to leave and have his own agency back. Agency that had been taken from him, first by Grindlewald and now by his invalid state and the decrees of Madame President.

  
He raised his head a few inches from the pillow it had been lying on, the small amount of distance being the only thing he could manage at the time and looked through the crack of the curtains.

It wasn’t quite morning. Dawn was just streaking through steel grey clouds, signalling it was not that far away. Seeing that made him let out a sigh of relief before letting his head settle back onto the pillow. He had slept without nightmares through most of the night.

  
It was a small victory, but he’d take whatever he could get nowadays. It wasn’t as if he could do much more, what with his magic nearly drained and dark magic residue needing to be flushed out of his system. He had been tainted by it quite badly and he had been forbidden to leave the hospital wing until it was gone and his magic had returned to an acceptable level. Despite still having enough magic to cast a few spells, he was considered badly incapacitated.

It would take time and despite logically understanding the reason, he knew himself.

  
Percival wasn’t going to come back to himself locked away in a prison. Not when he had been kidnapped and subjected to physical and emotional torture in a similar setting. It had been a near thing when he had opened his eyes fully for the first time and had seen the white tiles on the floor. He had panicked, but the dreamless draught the healer had managed to make him swallow had stopped that in its tracks.

  
It had been easier to distinguish between the two the more coherent that he had become and he had had less of those episodes. His bed was comfortable and he had warm blankets to curl up into. Replenishing potions and regular meals were also helping to bring him back to the Percival Graves that he used to be.

  
Physically at least.

  
Mentally and emotionally...He really wasn’t sure that he would ever get there again.  
The shame was the worst of it. The self-blame that followed whenever he thought about how Grindlewald played him like a well tuned violin. Made him scream and bleed and sob with each touch of those razor tipped fingers. How he had grinned at Percival’s wordless pleas and had pinched him roughly whenever he thought that Percival was withdrawing behind mental shields.

  
“ _Look at me! Look at me! Take it all in, Percy. Take it all in so that you don’t ever forget any of this!”_

  
Percival couldn’t help but to shudder at the memory of that whispered shout in his ear.

Nor could he help the shiver of disgust that followed Grindlewald licking the side of his face. He had thrown up bile the first time that it had happened. And no matter how many times he washed his face, he could still feel the wet saliva and hear Grindlwald’s mocking, quiet laughter that had followed right after.

  
He hated that nickname before.

Now, he utterly loathed it, the mere thought of it placing him right back into that tiled room and on top of that dirty mattress. He honestly didn’t know if he would be able to keep himself under control if anyone in the ward uttered it.

  
Percival shuddered and huddled deeper into his blanket, forcing his mind to slam those memories out. He couldn’t let anyone know about that.

Torture was accepted as an honourable trial to have endured by the hands of the enemy. Being used like a whore wasn’t. No self-respecting wizard would let anything of that sort happen to him. It wasn’t done.

  
Especially not a wizard like Percival Graves, Head of the Department of Safety at MACUSA.

  
There lay his tragedy. If he had died, he would have been a hero. But he was alive and he had to prove he was capable of being the auror he had been. Had always been.  
But if he cracked, he’d be of no use to anyone. Especially not-

  
He growled softly and refused to think about anyone at all and closed his eyes.

  
The insistent prodding, painful against his bony shoulder woke him up. He opened his eyes and roared when he came face to face with those mismatched eyes.

He didn’t care about ripping the gashes on his body open. He had to get away. He wasn’t going to go back to that prison. He wasn’t going to let anyone touch him, tear him open and expose him to the rest of the world. He would never let them prod those tender parts of him.

  
Percival would rather die.

  
He leapt off the bed and crawled into the corner, his hands curled into claws in front of him as Grindlewald got closer. Percival snarled and gathered up his reserves for one last assault.

  
And exploded.

  
He lashed out haphazardly, casting wordless hexes and curses, not caring what he hit.

The only thought in his mind escape.

He had to get out. He had to get to safety. He-

  
He was hit by a stunner, making him drop to the tiled floor.

  
His head cracked against the cold tile and there was sweet blessed nothingness after that.

  
~*~*~*~*~

  
Newt looked around the enclosures and gave a satisfied nod as he mentally checked off all of the completed items on his list.

It had been a longer day than usual, with the Niffler getting out again (He really should look into getting that lock fixed, he mused before writing a reminder to do so on a bit of parchment he found on his desk) and now sitting in his nest sulking and the Pukwudgies he found smuggled into Salamanca needing to be settled, he was exhausted.

Add to that the longer than usual cuddle time with the occamies and Dougal, he was ready to fall asleep on his feet.

  
He would have dropped into the cot he kept in his office for that exact reason, but capturing the pukwudgies had involved scrambling through a dusty market and somehow ending up rolling about in the dirt until his coat was nearly the same shade as his trousers. He had spelled them clean and himself, but he still felt a slight film of dirt on his skin.

  
There was also the fact that he had paid for a room with a private bathroom and he looked forward to a cool shower in that black and white tiled room. Rubbing his eyes, he made his way to the stairs before checking on the Niffler and finding him still sulking. Pickett was back in his tree and the Nundu was asleep. The mooncalves were still grazing and the demiguise was with the occamies. The pukwudgies were hiding. It was as normal as it could be.

  
He hummed to himself as he made his way out of his suitcase and into his room. He latched the suitcase and tied a string around it just in case before stripping off his clothes.

He spelled them to fold themselves neatly onto the chair before going in and taking his much anticipated shower. Once he had scrubbed the dust film off and washed his hair until it squeaked, he could barely keep his eyes open enough to stumble into bed and promptly pass out.

  
He was rudely woken up from the best sleep he had had in what felt like years from a loud and insistent tapping at his window.

He sleepily wondered if he hadn’t closed the tap properly in the bathroom when he heard the distinctive screech of a barn owl. Slowly, he sat up and reached to open the latch of the narrow window in the thick, white-washed wall of his lodgings. The owl entered and dropped a square envelope covered in neat copperplate script.

  
Newt exclaimed softly at the sight and was wide awake as he tore into the letter. He cherished the correspondence that had sprung up between them after New York and he looked forward to receiving her letters.

They were a bright spot in his peripatetic life and he enjoyed getting updates not just of her life, but of her sister and even Jacob’s life. She did occasionally write about the going ons of MACUSA, but was always discreet in what she shared. He had experience with that due to his brother’s line of work, so he didn’t mind the sparseness in that area.

  
He wondered if this letter would contain news about Percival Graves, since the last time Tina had written, she had made an aside that they were looking for him. At the thought of the real Graves, Newt’s excitement was slightly tamped down. He really hoped that they would be able to find him and find him in some semblance of good health and whole.

From the anecdotes that had slipped into her letters, he had gotten a glimpse of a man that he wished he had personally met. He sounded a bit like his brother, with his desire to uphold the law and do what was right. Maybe with less of a sense of humour, but a decent man.

  
Newt found himself frowning and he hoped that this letter had better news than the recent one. Despite his general awkwardness around people, he had learned to observe and look past the obvious. There was quite a bit of history between Tina and the missing director that was more than the usual history between colleagues. Tina held her cards close to her chest in that area, but he could also remember clearly how heartbroken she had looked when they had been sentenced to death.

  
There were hints of it here and there in her letter, but Newt never addressed them.

He didn’t feel that he could properly do it in a letter and he didn’t want to put any strain on their friendship. Tina, Queenie, and Jacob were the few people he had let in after it had ended with Leta. He didn’t want to jeopardize what he had with them.

So he let Tina keep her secrets until the time was appropriate for them to be addressed. Possibly in person.

  
Especially since he wasn’t sure where they stood-

  
He cut that thought off quickly and instead, focused on the letter in front of him. He unfolded the letter and saw that it was only one page of rushed and messy writing. There were a couple of inkblots in the bottom corner and there was something that looked suspiciously like bacon grease at the top left hand corner of the letter. All of these made Newt’s frown deepen.

Tina never sent letters in those states. Even rushed, she would take care to write neatly and not get the paper looking like it should be wrapping fish and chips. This signalled something serious happening in New York and Newt wondered if he should skip Portugal and go back to the US.

  
Chewing on his lip as he toyed with the decision, he decided instead to read the letter first and then make up his mind. No sense in jumping to conclusions until he had all the information.

  
“ _Dear Newt, I hope that this finds you well. Do give my love to the Occamies and to Dougal. Also remember me to the Niffler, who I trust is keeping out of trouble?”_

  
Newt looked over to the suitcase and was glad to see that it was still shut. He could write back and tell her that was the case without lying for once. He would have to do something about him soon. It was getting slightly embarrassing having to apologize for the little thief.

  
He shook his head and continued to read, conscious of the owl that had perched on the curtain rod and had started to clean himself as he waited for Newt to finish and write a reply.

  
“ _I have news about Per- Mr. Graves to share. He was found in a cellar hidden under a warehouse. As you can imagine, he is not in the best of shape. He has come back in some ways, but in others...I never thought I would write these words, but I fear for Mr. Gr-Percival._

_  
He has endured unimaginable torments at the hands of that madman and I fear that he will end up losing himself in his misery. He is like a wounded animal, maddened with pain and unable to find the way out. The hospital isn’t helping. Not with this and I am afraid if he doesn’t get the help he needs, we will lose him.”_

  
The letter went on for much longer, but Newt didn’t register anything else after reading the description of Graves as a wounded animal in need of care.

That was his entire job description: To help wounded and lost animals and get them back to health and safety.

Graves wasn’t an animal, but he was badly injured, and in need of help. Wounds of the mind and soul were another thing from physical ones and harder to treat and diagnose. He had seen that with the Obscurous and the Nundu.

  
He had helped the Nundu.

He had to try with Graves.

It wasn’t the same field, but he had enough experience to at least offer some council.

He had to try and even if he didn’t succeed, he could be part of the support network Graves so desperately needed now.

  
He had to help. There was no way that he could walk away from him and Tina.

  
Without giving it a second thought, he grabbed some spare parchment the hotel had left on the desk and rapidly scribbled off his response.

  
_“Dear Tina, I just received your letter. I will be in New York in a week. I have business to attend to, but I will definitely be able to at least offer some suggestions on what can be done for Mr. Graves. As always, Newt. Give my best to Queenie and Jacob. I shall see you all in a week. N. S.”_

  
He folded it up into a spare envelope and offered it to the Owl, who took it graciously and departed into the bright dawn.

  
Portugal could wait.

  
He had a friend to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graves-considering how attitudes were back in the days, I don't see him taking what was done to him with cold blooded practicality. He's pretty demoralized and wounded to his core and dangerous. He's someone who is used to fighting. That's why I see him like beast in need of help and taming.  
> I also know that psychology was in its infancy and he would probably be classified with the shell-shocked soldiers of WW1. He has ptsd, but it's not recognized as such yet.  
> Tina-She has feelings for Graves, but knows that it's not a fantastic idea to follow through. But now that Graves is how he is, she knows she will have to sort herself out. Especially with how he needs her help.  
> Newt-I see him like how my middle brother is-highly observant and a very keen observer of human nature. He lacks social graces, but is a good judge of character and highly compassionate. Hence his inclusion.


	3. Look Me In The Eye When I'm Talking To You, It's Easy To Get Nervous Cause I'm Feeling It Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina and Queenie have another conversation over not just Percival Grave's condition, but also complications that Tina refuses to acknowledge. Percival is on the edge and only just manages to pull back right before a new, and positive surprise comes into his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit of a wild ride and Graves and Newt were a bit harder to get into place than Tina and Queenie, who are becoming two of my favourites to write. I also love coffee shops and coffee chats with my close friends, so that's probably why I include so many of them.   
> Title is from Kodaline's "Ready" It has been proofed, but if mistakes appear, they shall be edited later.

Tina found herself sitting in a coffee shop with a half drunk cup of coffee warming her hands and a half-eaten piece of pie at her elbow. She was staring out the window into the streets, watching the No-Majs scurry towards their work or home. It wasn’t terribly late in the day and she could have gone home or gone to Kowalski’s, but she wanted to have some quiet time to reflect on not only the delicate situation with Percival, but also the upcoming extradition of Grindelwald back to Europe.

Percival. She rubbed the side of her mug with her thumb as she thought about how easy it was to use his first name, rather than Director Graves or Mr. Graves.  It had become natural after all those months of searching and the weeks of recovery that she had visited him through to call him by his first name. She had seen him at his worst and there was no going back and pretending that there was that old formal distance between them any longer. Not when she had held his hand and stroked his hair as he lay unconscious after the last attack on his psyche had forced the medi witches to sedate him.

That last attack had made her finally seek outside help. Percival needed more than to be locked up in a sterile ward with just a few people visiting him and pitying him. As much as she didn’t want to, she did. Queenie, she knew did. Madame President hid it well, but all of them couldn’t quite let the guilt pass. Not when he was wasting away day by day.

She rubbed her forehead with cold, inkstained fingertips and looked down at her forlorn looking cherry pie. She picked up her fork and took a bite of it, closing her eyes briefly as the sweetly tart taste of cherry filling and flaky pastry hit her tongue. It transported her back to simpler times when all she had to worry about were tardy reports and keeping her workplace inappropriate feelings under wraps. She chewed slowly, savouring the piece before washing it down with coffee. She put her mug down and looked at her bag. 

In it was the latest report from St. Bart’s regarding Percival’s current condition. She had an inkling of what would be contained in the closely written parchment sheets. She had seen the aftermath of one of his episodes, coming in just in time to see him stunned into oblivion after he had woken up and thought he was being attacked by Grindelwald. She had felt sick to her stomach at seeing her formerly collected superior sick with fear and lashing out without control. It had shaken her and it had also prompted her to stay with him and hold his hand until the mediwitches had firmly, but politely shown her the door. 

She had been shaken something awful at seeing Percival reduced to a incoherent wreck due to the machinations of a monster disguised as a man. She had taken the long way home to settle her thoughts down before she saw Queenie. She didn’t want to overwhelm her sister with the pure and unfiltered grief that was swirling in her mind. She couldn’t really divorce herself from her emotions and her thoughts were a mess of pain and sadness for Percival Graves. Yes, he had been physically injured, but the psychic and mental injuries were the ones she was concerned with and was afraid that maybe they were too deep and wouldn’t ever heal.

She had chewed her lip bloody by the time that she had gotten home and her cheeks were raw with the wind that blew into the city. Queenie hadn’t said much of anything and had only pressed a mug of hot chocolate in her hands after helping her take off her coat and hat. She had sat her sister down at the table and took the seat opposite her until she had been able to control herself somewhat to actually get herself sorted out before going to bed. 

“I’m sure he’ll get better, Tina. He  _ is _ Mr. Graves, after all.”

Queenie assured her after Tina had managed to get down half of the hot chocolate and a couple of the mildly sweet pastries shaped like nifflers that Tina wouldn’t ever admit were her favourites. She felt better with the sweets in her system and was more receptive to her sister’s assurances than she had been before. Queenie was right. As simplistic as the statement was, she  _ was _ right. Percival Graves was one of the toughest sons of bitches she had ever had the privilege to meet. If anyone could come back swinging from such a setback, it would be him.

She knew that he had that tenacity and resilience in him. He had to, after being an Auror for so long and reaching his position. He could do it. She knew he could. Yet the cold thread of uncertainty wove through those optimistic thoughts. What if he didn’t find his way back? What if he remained that volatile wreck of a man for the rest of his life? What then?

Queenie’s annoyed sigh broke through her melancholy thoughts and she turned to look at her sister. Who looked highly irritated with her, making her rein in her runaway thoughts back. She blushed and took another sip of the lukewarm chocolate, finishing it off to the dregs. Queenie only tapped her shell pink nails on the table before she got up and went to refill the mug with more hot chocolate and brought it along with a mug for herself back to the table. 

“It won’t always be like that with him. He’s come a long way despite it not seeming that way, Tina. It doesn’t look like it to you, but it is true.”

Queenie assured her, making Tina look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, he did finally block me out, if you must know.”

Queenie replied, making Tina’s lips curl up. It was a good sign that Queenie was getting pushed out of Percival’s mind. Queenie had come with Tina on an earlier visit and had been sheet white the few minutes that she had stood in the doorway before leaving. She had been able to withstand it better the next visit when he had been awake and a bit more coherent and at the last visit she had been with Tina, hadn’t been able to get any of his thoughts at all. 

Tina had suspected that had been the case, but Queenie had kept tight lipped about it until now.  Tina also suspected that bit was shared so that Tina didn’t continue down her pessimistic path about Percival’s current status. She also tactfully refrained from commenting on the fact that Mr. Graves was now Percival in her sister’s mind. That was another battle for another day. 

“So don’t give up on him yet. Besides, I think it was a smart move on your part to write to Newt.” 

Queenie added as she clasped her hands around her mug, pointedly looking at her sister as she spoke. Tina’s mouth curled slightly before she drank from her mug, making Queenie gasp softly.  Tina’s blush deepened at that and she fixed her eyes on her drink, not daring or wanting to look into her sister’s eyes. She didn’t know what she would find there and she honestly was afraid to find out. 

“You always had to make it harder on yourself, didn’t you, Teen?”

Queenie asked softly, giving Tina enough courage to look up to her sister and see Queenie’s sad smile. 

“ _ We _ don’t make it easy on ourselves, Queenie. That’s the truth of it, isn’t it?”

Queenie sighed and snuck a piece of the niffler pastry and popped it in her mouth, briskly dusting her hands after she did so.

“It’s true and I wish it wasn’t. When is Newt arriving?”

Tina looked at the calendar behind Queenie and did some rapid calculations. 

“Barring any hold ups, in about a week? He was in Spain last I recall.” 

Queenie hummed an agreement at the information. She had missed him, with his magical creatures and endearing awkwardness. She had suspected that Tina had started to develop a fondness for him after all they had gone through and she had hoped that something more would have developed between them. She thought that something had with the letters that they exchanged back and forth. 

Then Tina was reinstated and the search for Percival Graves had eaten into the correspondence time that she used to set aside for Newt. She still wrote, but the letters had slowed down considerably. Then she had somehow found Percival and the emotional merry go round had started again. She had been naive to expect that Newt would have replaced Percival Graves in her sister’s mind and thoughts. Maybe she had been, but it had looked like a strong possibility. 

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to look closely at Tina, who was busy thinking about the hot chocolate and carefully avoiding thinking about her excitement in regards to Newt’s arrival. Queenie knew it was a cover for feelings that Tina didn’t want to be looked at or prodded at that time. 

“He will be staying here, of course?” 

She asked sweetly, earning herself a sharp look from her sister before she nodded tersely. 

Queenie opened her mouth, but thought better of it when Tina bristled at being asked more questions. 

“All right. All right. I’ll drop it. But you know you can’t ignore any of this forever.”

Queenie sighed at Tina’s mutinous look, but decided to simply let her be. She knew when she should push and when to back away and this time, she had to back away. 

At least she had gotten Tina to stop brooding over Percival Graves. 

~*~*~*~

Percival’s eyes snapped open, the familiar dull white ceiling being the first sight that greeted him yet again. He groaned and rubbed his face roughly with both hands before lying still for a few moments to orient himself. Somehow, it felt like he had been out far too long again. His stiff back and shoulders told him that it had been far too long since he had last moved. Once he felt more like himself, he shifted in his bed, wincing as new bruises made themselves known. 

He pushed the sleeve of the hospital gown up and saw the large dark bruise on his upper arm. He let the sleeve fall and did the same to his other arm. Sure enough, there was a matching set of bruises there as well.  He rotated his shoulders and winced as even more bruises made themselves known there. He frowned to himself as he catalogued even more sore spots as he finally pushed himself up to a sitting position.

Where had they come from? His mind felt shredded and completely disordered, as if he had been the recipient of several stunning hexes and an entire flask of dreamless sleep on top of that. The second element didn’t sound too bad, if he was being honest. It had been one of the best sleeps that he’d had in ages and he was so grateful for the reprieve he found tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. 

No memories of Grindelwald had interrupted his sleep. No ghostly fingertips on his skin. No razor sharp nails slicing up the softest parts of him. No malicious whispers in his ear. He closed his eyes and wiped the tears of relief and gratitude away with a rough swipe of a scarred hand. 

He felt slightly pathetic at his gratitude at not having to relive his torment for the first time in a long time and also slightly ashamed. He was a Graves, for Merlin’s sake! He was the one that kept everything together, not the one that fell apart. His fists clenched around the coarse weave of the top blanket and the window panes started rattling in their casements. He was losing control of himself as he fought the self-loathing and shame that rose up in him. 

The water glass and the pitcher on the side table cracked and split in half, falling to the ground in pieces and the water turned into blue ink, something that hadn’t happened to him since he had been eleven and starting to manifest his magic. He took a deep breath and exhaled it in an effort to calm himself down and fix the damage. The window panes rattled so hard that they started humming and he knew he was just seconds from making them shatter into a fine mist. 

He fought to reign it all back, but no matter how hard he tried, it slipped through his fingers like icy water. No matter how much effort he put in, it was a futile situation. He clenched his teeth and  _ pulled. _

The panes stopped abruptly and the ink turned back to water. 

And Percival felt like he had been punched in the gut.

“Oh...Uhm...Well. That certainly is impressive.”

His head snapped up at the softly accented voice that broke the tense silence in the room. His senses were confused and his head was spinning as he worked out how he had missed another person slipping through his shields. He  _ always _ knew when Tina and her sister were in the hallway outside of his room. He had gotten better at pushing Queenie’s legilimency away without a second thought...Yet  _ he _ had escaped his recently hyperaware senses.

The speaker was wearing a bright blue coat over faded brown and gold clothing. A battered case with shiny new clasps dangled from his left hand. His eyes were a bright, honest blue that almost matched his coat. Reddish curls topped a friendly, freckled face that was just a tad too narrow and reminded Percival of someone he used to know. The flash of recognition came and went through his mind and it brought everything into a clearer focus than before.

That was the reason why Percival was struck by the stranger’s face. After all the time that he had spent in the hospital, he had been the recipient of many soft looks of pity and sorrow on his behalf. It was getting frustrating. He hadn’t ever been the recipient of pity before. Respect, awe, and fear. Admiration. Maybe even lust. But never pity as he had been the past while. 

The stranger was different in that his expression was not one of pity, but quiet awe at the magic that he had just witnessed. His expression belied his posture and Percival found himself wondering why he stood the way he did. He was standing slightly hunched, as if he was trying to blend in with the door that was slightly ajar behind him.  He found it curious, how the stranger seemed like he wanted to blend in and hide the effervescence that lay just below the surface.  

Percival wet his lips and was about to ask him if he had gotten lost when he noticed movement. He looked closer and got his answer. Past the stranger’s shoulder, he could see the top of Tina’s black hat and Queenie’s strawberry blond halo of curls. Oh. So he wasn’t some random stranger that had appeared. Tina knew him. Queenie knew him and that simple bit of knowledge made him fractionally relax. He was still breathing a little too fast, but he was more in control of himself to get out of the fight or flight instinct. 

“It was...A loss of control. Not impressive.”

Percival muttered, waving his hand and repairing the glass and the pitcher and replacing the water in the pitcher. His magic wavered when he tried to float them back onto the table and the stranger took over. Percival let him, despite cringing inwardly at showing yet even more weakness. 

The stranger smiled briefly and Percival’s heart stuttered at the sight before going back to normal. Even as brief as it was, it had the same effect of making him feel safe and warm like Tina’s presence did. He didn’t know why, but he instinctively knew that this blue-eyed stranger belonged in the same category as Tina did. 

“It still counts. Oh! I should...Yes, how could I forget? My apologies. I’m Newton Scamander. Newt.”

The smile was back and Percival was nearly lost in its’ brightness, nearly making him tongue-tied and stupid eyed again. 

“Graves. Percival Graves.”

He replied hoarsely. 

“I know now. It really  _ is  _ you. Odd how no one else could see it.”

The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees at that. 

“What do you mean?”

Percival asked, his voice soft and deadly as he asked the question. If Newton Scamander was intimidated, he didn’t give a sign. He only blinked before he took a step forward and peered into Percival’s face. He stared at Percival for several moments before nodding to himself and meeting Percival’s eyes dead on. 

“Your eyes. They’re alive and kind. His never were.”

Percival froze at that simple statement. How did this stranger see that when others couldn’t? 

His mouth opened and closed and Scamander got closer, approaching him carefully, as if he were live bomb capable of exploding with mishandling. He watched as Scamander reached out and tentatively touched him. He didn’t realise when Scamander’s fingers made contact with his skin. Only that it was a shock and his magic swirled in welcome and response to Scamander’s own. 

Scamander’s eyes widened at that and he gasped out a quiet “Oh” as his own magic rose in response. 

“What is  _ this _ ?”

Percival gasped out. 

“It means Tina was right in calling Newt to New York.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Queenie and Tina-I don't have sisters, but I do have conversations over drinks and pastries with my friends quite a bit. I adore Tina and Queenie's bond and it just felt right to have them talk as Tina works to sort out things not just in her life, but her feelings and the Graves situation.   
> Graves-I'm loosely basing his feelings and reactions on a RL situation that I'm facing at the moment regarding a friend.I see him as finally coming to see there is a way out, but he needs help finding it still.   
> Newt-He has a really strong rapport with not just wounded animals, but wounded beings in general. I see him almost as empathetic as Queenie and that's why he can see and respond to subtle cues others would miss. I also see him as having sympathetic touch magic and that's why his "babies" respond so well to him.


	4. High Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina, Percival, and Newt find that they are more in tune than they suspected. Madame Picquery reviews her earlier decisions and comes to resolutions about them and what is going on in the present. Theseus and Newt have a long overdue talk before his departure and come to an agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in chapters. I moved to Malaysia and just now have had a couple of days to write. Title is from Kodaline's "High Hopes" and it has been edited and proofed, but if mistakes persist, they will be fixed.

Everyone froze at Queenie’s words, Percival’s tired eyes snapped up at the door where Tina had barged in past her sister to take in the scene in front of her. She was both stunned and pleased at how the two wizards had reacted to each other’s presence. She wanted to say that she had been utterly convinced that it was going to work out, when she had taken the chance to write Newt for his presence in New York. But she had her doubts. 

Especially when Percival had reacted so violently when startled the last time she had been in his room. She and the mediwitch had just barely escaped without any injury, since they had acted fast to subdue him. She had been worried that he would lash out and possibly injure Newt once he arrived and although she had no doubt he’d be able to handle himself, he wasn’t an Auror. A Magizoologist may have great reflexes, but she wasn’t sure that they would hold up to an Auror trained to bring down dark wizards and someone who had years of fighting experience. 

She had been relieved her fears had been unfounded. Percival hadn’t even noticed Newt until he had gotten control of himself after his magic had gone out of control on him. And then, he had been collected. Almost as collected as she had remembered him being when she had started working as his trainee. 

Seeing that flash of the old Percival Graves had made Tina’s low thrumming doubt dissipate completely. But not before a small flash of jealousy made itself known before she forcefully pushed it away. She knew she hadn’t been fast enough in banishing from the small look of worry that Queenie had shot her when she had stepped further into Percival Graves’ room now that any possible threats had been neutralised. Tina knew that she would have to explain it to Queenie when they were alone, but right now, all she focused on was taking in the meeting between Percival and Newt. 

It had shocked her how quickly Percival had been put at ease. She had heard rumours and cut off stories of the last time Percival Graves had lost control of his magic. It had been dangerous and only just contained and causing serious damage before he had managed to control it.  And here, Newt had been able to step in and calm Percival down despite him being on the threshold of exploding. The ease of it surprised her. Just like seeing him unguarded and open with Newt.

Something he hadn’t been in years. Something that had gotten worse after he had been found in that warehouse. It made sense. No one would be easily trusting or open after being at Grindelwald’s sadistic tendencies. Percival had always played his cards close to his vest and to see him open up to the extent that his magic had  _ risen _ to meet with Newt’s was a sight she’d never be able to forget for as long as she lived. 

She stood in front of them, watching as the magic leapt and swirled in loops and whirls over Newt’s skin before being absorbed into him. Newt’s own magic replied, rising up and adding itself to Percival’s.  Newt’s eyelids fluttered and Percival’s face lost that parchment pale shade and pinkened into a healthier shade that he hadn’t had for months. In fact, he was looking more like his old self, his skin becoming more golden olive and his eyes losing that exhausted look in them.

But at a cost, since Newt’s eyes were flickering and he had started to sway dangerously on his feet. 

Tina didn’t think twice and moved forward to catch Newt before he collapsed onto the cold tiled floor. On her way there, her hand also brushed against Percival’s and she gasped at the jolt that their combined magic gave her as it crackled against her fingertips. 

Her first impulse was to snatch her hand away, yet when she saw how Newt seemed to recover himself and Percival’s face nearly get back to normal, she kept her hand still. Even though it felt like ice shards were biting into her flesh as she did so. She gasped, and clenched her teeth through the pain until the magic abruptly let them all go, making her and Newt stagger and Percival fall back onto his pillows. 

She would have fallen if it hadn’t been for her sister being there to catch her and Newt. Tina was panting hard as if she had run a mile and her hands were shaking. She looked at Newt and saw that he was shaken and pale as well. Percival’s eyes were half shut and he was breathing hard, but he was in better physical shape than before. They had done this, Tina realised. 

Their magic had sparked and called to Percival’s own depleted and unstable magical core and pulled it back to some solidity. She wasn’t sure if it was a good sign, but from the abrupt entry of the mediwitches into the room, Tina had to guess that was the case from the murmured and subdued excitement as they surrounded them. Queenie was unceremoniously pushed away, but she only shrugged and stepped out of the room. 

Tina watched her go, but her attention was taken up by a mediwitch handing her a mug of hot chocolate and ordering her to drink it while another did the same to Newt and Percival. Percival’s hands were shaking and Newt’s colour was just now starting to come back. Neither of them said anything despite being bombarded with questions by the mediwitches. 

In fact, they were ignoring them and everyone else in the room apart from themselves and her. She felt their gazes land heavily on her and despite having the urge to fidget under their scrutiny, she didn’t dare. Not when she felt the same need to keep her focus on the two men that she had a feeling would be forever intertwined with her. 

Nothing else was important except them. 

~*~*~*~

President Picquery steepled her hands together as she read the reports that lay on her desk. She had already cleared the rest of the requisitions and day to day memos involved in running MACUSA and was now dealing with the most important ones. Her mouth thinned into a tight line when she read the first one, which came from the Ministry of Magic Aurors. She read the report carefully, making mental notes and scribbling some with a sharp wave of her hand. She finished it and affixed her signature and presidential stamp upon it before snapping her fingers and watching it fold itself before she handed it off to the waiting owl. 

He gave President Picquery a bob of his head before accepting the missive and flying off to the Minister of Magic. She was positive that he wasn’t going to enjoy looking at the report. Nor would he relish having Grindelwald back in Europe, but as far as President Picquery was concerned, that was the last of MACUSA’s involvement in any affairs of the continent. 

England and Bulgaria was welcome to him. He was no longer her concern. All she cared about was getting MACUSA back in proper working order and stable enough to withstand the dark times that she was positive would come. They had expended enough time and manpower to contain and transfer him under heavy guard to the continent. He had left her Head of Defence a wreck and had created low level chaos and possible converts that would need to be weeded out quickly and efficiently. 

She stood up and stretched her back before she read the latest report. She forced the familiar pang of regret she felt whenever she saw Percival Graves’ name on any document. She had no one to blame for that but her unshakeable trust in Graves. She had known him since they had been in Ilvermorny, her a Horned Serpent and him a Wampus. He had always been an upstanding sort of boy and later on, man. 

He had never given her any pause and it spoke of how well Grindelwald managed to play the part that apart from a few snags, the Department had more or less run smoothly under his tenure. The few snags that had cropped up, she hadn’t thought much of. Yet in hindsight, she should have examined the demotion of Auror Goldstein when the request had come across her desk. 

She had been mildly surprised to have seen the request for demotion and the move to the wand permit office for Goldstein. Although Graves kept his own counsel when it came to his feelings for his Aurors, he had hinted at being pleased with Goldstein’s progress. So to have him move her into a dead-end role for a situation that should have warranted a written warning and probation had given her pause. 

Yet she had signed off on it, trusting that Graves knew what he was about. 

Her mouth hardened again at the memory of her simply dismissing the matter instead of putting forth more inquiries. If she had done that, could she have seen it wasn’t her esteemed and trusted colleague? Could they have gotten him out earlier and sent Grindelwald packing before the Barebone boy became the Obscurial? She hated to admit that the answers to all of those questions were yes. 

Picquery was also well aware that regret was a useless emotion and solved nothing. So she firmly pushed it away and made a mental note to talk to Percival and let him know how truly sorry she was over the situation. She had done it the first night that he had been brought in, covered in blood, pus, and his own filth. But he hadn’t heard her, being too weak and under the influence of a heavy dose of assorted potions to get him back from the brink of death. 

She would swallow her pride and do it again. It was the least that she could do for him after all that he had been put through. She hadn’t been an Auror, but she had fought in the frontlines and had seen violence first hand. She knew how to read between the lines of the report that the mediwitches had placed on her desk the morning after Graves had been found.

Speaking of reports, she shut those thoughts down and started reading the neat copperplate script of Auror Goldstein. She had expected a dry and run of the mill report on Graves and his recovery and possible clues to how he had been captured. What she hadn’t been expecting was for Newton Scamander to make an appearance. Nor had she expected to read about Graves’ near complete recovery due to Scamander’s help. The report ended with the request that Graves be released from the secure ward he had been ensconced in for months. 

Picquery put it down on her desk and rubbed her mouth as she tried to figure out why it felt like the report wasn’t quite giving her the entire picture. She was well aware of what a wildcard Scamander was. She was also painfully aware that if it hadn’t been for his interference, they would have lost Grindelwald. 

His presence wasn’t the problem. Nor was Graves finally being healthy enough to be released. But rather, it was the nagging feeling that Goldstein was omitting more than what had happened. It was too sparse. Too neat and it made her instincts rise up in suspicion at it. 

She could deny the request, but she wasn’t that cruel. Not when it would mean keeping Graves imprisoned again. Even if it was for his own good, it wouldn’t change the fact that he was still a prisoner. And that was the last thing that she wanted to do to him. 

And despite knowing this, she signed it and tapped it to turn into a mouse to scurry to Goldstein’s desk. 

She would get the truth of the matter once Graves was out. 

She had learned her lesson. 

Seraphina Picquery didn’t make the same mistake twice, that was for certain.

~*~*~*~*~

Newt, Theseus noticed when they had gotten their orders at the nondescript diner, was clutching the cup of coffee as if it was a lifeline. He wasn’t as jittery as usual, but he was having a hard time meeting his eyes. Newt was looking everywhere but in his eyes and that made Theseus worry about leaving his baby brother in America.  He frowned and sighed inwardly at this development, but refrained from commenting on it.  

He idly wondered if it had anything to do with his old friend Percy Graves. He knew that an Auror Goldstein had found him after Grindelwald had been apprehended. Theseus had been aware that Newt had been called back to help. In what capacity, he wasn’t quite sure of. But looking at his brother’s extreme discomfort, he had to admit that he was slightly worried. 

Although he respected and counted Percy Graves as one of his friends, he was also aware that Graves could be a little unbending and intense for those that didn’t know him. Especially to his baby brother, who had only met Grindelwald, rather than the real Percy Graves Theseus knew. He hoped that it was just a snag rather than a larger complication. The Minister of Magic and their parents wouldn’t appreciate it if both Scamander brothers got mired down in the Americas over situations that they shouldn’t have been involved into in the first place. 

Keeping that in mind, he waited. Theseus had learned from experience that if he started to comment on things Newt wanted to pretend weren’t happening, he’d shut down and turn as talkative as a brick wall. And as unmoving as well. So he remained quiet and sipped at the too strong tea he had been served at the muggle diner that Newt had decided they would meet at and waited. Newt would tell him soon enough. If not now, then he’d spill in the next letter he’d owl home. 

Theseus knew his brother, so he drank his tea and dug into the apple pie in lieu of a scone instead. 

He had just pressed his fork into the crust when Newt blurted out: “Percival and my magic called to each other. As well as Tina’s. I can’t leave them. I know that you wanted me to come back with the escort, but I can’t. I’m sorry!”

Theseus’ eyes widened and his fork fell from his numb hand to clatter onto the table and make Newt jump. 

“Newt, hey. Calm down. Breathe, Newt. Breathe.”

Theseus coached his brother, afraid that Newt would have a panic attack and his magic would go haywire in a very public place. He was sure that despite the debt that Madame President owed Newt, she wouldn’t hesitate to punish him for breaking the statutes of secrecy. He understood, but he wouldn’t ever let that happen. Not when it was Newt’s freedom that was at stake. 

Newt listened to Theseus’ words and managed to slow his breathing enough to calm down. He took a long swallow of the coffee, put the cup down with deliberate movements to ground himself further and then looked straight at Theseus. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and Theseus decided that it was time for the conversation to continue.

“So I’m going to reiterate what you just told me. You said that your magic and Percy’s, as well as Tina Goldstein’s all called to each other?”

Newt nodded and Theseus rubbed his forehead at the news. 

“How did it happen?”

He asked, trying to remember exactly what they had studied or been told about magic calling to another wizard or witch. Usually it was just between two people that the bond was created, For three...There had to have been extraordinary circumstances for that to have occurred. 

“When we visited Percival at St. Bartholomew’s. He...He hasn’t been doing well and Tina-Er, Miss Goldstein- asked me to come and see if I could help. He had just gotten his magic under control and I approached him and our magic called to each other.”

Newt’s pale face suddenly flushed a violent red before he continued. 

“His core felt like it was nearly depleted and-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Theseus interrupted, his mind already racing to the implications of what his baby brother was telling him.

“He was feeding off your magic? And then Ti-Miss Goldstein stepped in when things were going too far, am I correct?”

Newt nodded, snapping his mouth closed, making Theseus sit back and look at his little brother ruefully. 

“Oh Newton. You always did have the gift of complicating your life in the strangest ways.”

Theseus noted, making Newt look at him with a hopeful expression on his face now that he was sure Theseus wasn’t angry. 

“I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t hope I could bring you back home. Clearly, with this on your plate, it is out of the question. Percy needs both of you. He’s been through a hell of a lot and with your magic tied to not just him...You need to stay here. Now eat up. I do have to leave in two hours and it’s been awhile since we talked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic-This isn't like a soul bond. It's more that their magic is compatible and can be used to heal or calm down. I picture it as if Newt is empathetic and Percival is in dire need of sympathy, that's why his magic reached out for Newt's. Tina is compatible with both of them in both temperament and emotions, so that was why she could step in and help.   
> Newt-I see him as having empathetic or touch magic. In my head-cannon, he's got some social anxiety and is shy. That's why Theseus handles him so gently.  
> Theseus-I know someone else fancast Sam Heughan as Newt's brother and I now can't picture anyone else as Theseus Scamandar either. So there we go.  
> MACUSA and Grindelwald-I'm writing MACUSA as following the same pattern as the US after WWI in that they isolated themselves from what was going on in Europe until they were attacked in Pearl Harbour in 1941. So when Grindelwald rises, they find themselves joining late, but basically coming in to help smash him. I also didn't want to focus on Grindelwald escaping in this story. My focus is more on Tina/Newt/Graves.


	5. All I Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graves is finally getting released. With caveats, one of them being that he is handed over to the care of Newt and Tina. It's not ideal, but after so little autonomy, Graves is willing to go with them. Especially since he is well aware they are the two that can help him come back and be what he was. Or at least a decent facsimile of it.

Newt stirred his tea with loose movements of his hand, not really paying attention to his wand work as he did, making the tea slosh over the cup and land in the saucer. It wasn't until hot tea splashed the Niffler, making it give a small squeak that he pulled himself back into the present.

Newt immediately felt guilty for being so careless that he could have hurt one of his babies. He put the cup and saucer down hastily and picked up a soft towel to quickly dry off the Niffler's coarse fur and to make sure that he hadn't been scalded. Highly unlikely with the fur being what it was, but he went through the motions either way. Especially since he felt that he had been neglecting his babies something awful with all the time that he had been spending with Graves and Tina.

Despite the mental wince he gave at using Grave's last name, he had a strong suspicion that the other wizard wouldn't appreciate his name being shortened to something familiar. Even when it was just in the privacy of Newt's own thoughts. It was on Newt then, needing to get used to addressing him as Percival, rather than Percy or Graves. Newt didn't know exactly why there was such a stigma towards the name Percy, but he hadn't questioned it when Graves had tersely requested he be not called that ever when Madame President had addressed him as such.

Although neither Graves nor Madame President raised their voices as they held a brief meeting, their voices were loud enough for him and Tina to hear that tense exchange that made the usual stoic facade of the President show cracks. That was the only thing that they heard, the rest of the conversation held in low murmurs that didn't quite reach Tina or Newt. They stayed out in the hall and busied themselves with the lukewarm coffee and tea that they had been drinking and only just escaped being caught out when Madame President strode out of Graves' room and went straight to Newt and Tina.

“Mr. Scamander, Auror Goldstein.”

She greeted them coolly, making Newt awkwardly bow in her direction while Tina uttered a soft “Ma'am”.

“Your request for Director Graves' discharge has been approved. He has been made aware of the situation but there are conditions for his release that have to be met.”

Tina and Newt looked at each other at her words, waiting to hear what the possible stipulations to his release from the ward, since the healers and mediwitches were quite reluctant to let him go. Especially not after their magic had become intertwined and helped to finally heal the largest wounds in Graves' magical core. Tina chewed on her bottom lip before clearing her throat.

“What would they be, Madame?”

Newt's eyes darted quickly towards Madame President, who stared back at them impassively.

“You both will remain with Director Graves until he is fully fit to resume his duties as Head of the Security Department. He is not to come any earlier than that. Is that clear?”

Her voice lowered a few degrees as she asked the question as she impressed on them the exact importance of her request.

Newt ducked his head, nodding all the while as he looked at anything but her eyes while Tina respectfully lowered her eyes and also murmured a quiet word of agreement. The President looked like she was going to leave without any further instructions on what they were to do with Graves and Newt would have remained quiet it if hadn't been for the fact that he remembered she hadn't given them a timeline of when exactly Graves was to be considered fit to return back to work.

Newt cleared his throat, drawing the sharp gaze of Madame President to him. She raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to speak.

“Do you have anything to add, Mr. Scamander?”

Newt nodded and forced himself to voice his concerns now that he had her attention. Tina only watched mutely, her eyes full of questions and surprise as she watched the situation unfold in front of her.

“With due respect, Madame, exactly when is Director Graves allowed to resume his duties? I would like to know if there is a timeline that we should keep in mind, that is.”

Madame crossed her arms across her chest as her gaze turned inwards, as if she was making calculations and weighing her options before she replied.

“Two months minimum. I know _Perc_ ival prides himself on his resilience and dedication to his work, but he is not to come back before then.”

Newt noted that she struggled to complete Graves' first name. A small stress on the first syllable gave it away. Newt realized too late that she had seen something of his thoughts on his face because her expression turned stony. She glared at him and then at Tina sharply and waited for them to agree before she nodded her head and gave them just the briefest hint of a smile.

“Good. I am glad that we understand each other. Good day, Mr. Scamander. Auror Goldstein.”

They watched her leave for several minutes, instinctively knowing that they had to give Percival some space before they re-entered the room again. Otherwise, he'd hide himself from them, even though he was quite aware it was a futile effort on his part.

“Did you...”

Tina didn't finish the whisper as Newt shook his head to cut off anything else that she would have said about the irregularity she had noticed. Her eyes widened as she followed her gaze towards Graves' room. It wouldn't do to talk about the situation when they were in earshot of the man.

He gave her an apologetic look and Tina nodded her head.

Newt knew that they would find out soon enough what the significance of the name was.

hether it was from before, or during his torture at Grindelwald's hands, it would all out.

He had forced himself to not think anymore on that mystery. They had quite a bit to do before they went back to St. Bartholomew's and took Percival home. Both Queenie and Tina and a handful of Aurors were already at the ancient Graves brownstone, fixing it up and eradicating any traces of Grindelwald and his magic as well as shoring up the wards for Graves and his and Tina's own protection.

They didn't _quite_ need the small battalion that had shown up for the duty, but it was there nonetheless.

That had been one of the reasons why Newt had opted to volunteer for buying Graves some clothes and toiletries. He couldn't tolerate crowds no matter what the cause. He also was annoyed at the sidealong glances he got from the Auror department. Almost as if they were seeking absolution for neglecting to notice their boss wasn't their boss for all that time and condemning Percival to suffer at Grindelwald's hands. As if Newt could do it! And if he could...He always cut that thought off. So he had opted to remain behind and do a task he normally wasn't keen on.

Only the fact that it would ease the transition for Percival made the task bearable. He had noticed the greyness of the other wizard's face when Tina had told him of the state of his home. Graves' long fingers had spasmed and curled into a deathgrip around the navy blanket and the window panes had shaken again. It was only Newt's light touch on his shoulder that had prevented another loss of control.

Newt chewed on his lip and forced the memory away. It wasn't pleasant to have seen such a capable man laid low like that. So he had done his best and had consulted Theseus on a few things, since he and Percival were friends despite the distance and the hectic pace of their careers. He too, had expressed regret, but Newt didn't feel the same resentment as he did with the others. Theseus had an ocean separating him from Percival. Months could go without them exchanging so much as a letter.

His co-workers and underlings had no real excuse. He didn't count Tina in that equation since it was all too painfully obvious she had been demoted to get her out of the way. If she had stayed, Newt was sure that she would have exposed Grindelwald earlier than he had been. Newt found his fist clenching and he made an effort to loosen his grip and wave his hand to get rid of the sting of his fingernails digging into his palm.

“ _Later.”_

He muttered emphatically to himself and focused on the present. He lifted his eyes to the spilled tea, the Niffler in the crook of his left arm looking at him quizzically, and the tea rapidly cooling on the counter where he had set it down in his haste to comfort his beast. Sighing, he muttered a spell and cleared up the mess. Another wave had the tea hot enough to drink.

He made a soft noise towards the Niffler, who responded cautiously to it before Newt repeated the vocalization. He chirruped again, but this time, it was a sound of contentment. It made Newt relax and focus completely on the little furry beast.

He was done zoning out. He had things to do other than brood.

Soothing his Niffler for one and to spend his too brief free time with his beloved beasts for others. He had already packed up his purchases and placed them in his case.

Once he had finished mopping up most of the water from the black fur, he grabbed a new towel and wrapped up the Niffler in it as he would a baby and cuddled him.

“Oh! Mummy's sorry! So sorry! I promise to be careful next time! I swear!”

Newt cooed, making the Niffler give a few squeaks before finally settling down and basking in the attention that his mummy was giving him. He relished it until Newt stood up and opened the latches on his case. The Niffler gave a few resigned squeaks before giving in. He knew that he had to share the attention. That was just the way it was with mummy.

Newt murmured a few times more before going down and placing the Niffler into his nest. Once he had been settled in, Newt rolled up his sleeves. Time to go to work.

~*~*~*~

Percival Graves was sitting on the neatly made bed with his hands gripping the mattress tightly to keep himself grounded and not spiral down into quiet anxiety. Despite the often repeated promises by Newt and Tina and the healers and even Picquery, he still couldn't quite bring himself to believe that he was _finally_ going to be a free man. He would no longer be at the whims of anyone and he would finally be able to lick his wounds and be able to put himself together again. He squinted at the light that was coming in through the only just adequate curtains and forced himself to not think about the fact that Tina and Newt would be there as well.

He didn't want to mar his own happiness over the fact that they, not him, would be the ones to judge and decide whether he'd be able to resume his duties at MACUSA. He had known that there would be caveats to his release, since the healers wanted to keep him there for at least six months. Possibly even a year. He shuddered at the idea of being locked up and doing nothing else but to slowly go mad while they tried to pick his mind and psyche apart in a well-meaning effort to put him back together again.

Something that he had already resisted as ferociously as he possibly could in his weakened state. He hadn't let them know much. Only the barest bits of information and what he couldn't hide from their probing fingers and wands. They had tried. Oh they had tried.

The small victory had made him smile bitterly. He had been compliant when they healed his physical injuries. He wasn't a masochist and he knew that if he didn't, he could be maimed for the rest of his life. His smile turned to a grimace as he ran his hands down his thighs, still clad in the pale blue-grey robe they had given him when he had been able to get out of bed. Percival fancied he could feel the thick lines of scar tissue he had seen in the mirror when he had finally showered.

He hadn't flinched at the sight of his battered and emaciated body when he had gotten a good look at it. He had been in the war. He had seen what damage could be done to the human body. So he had dispassionately taken in the parchment pale skin marred by bright pink lines bisecting the surface like badly drawn lines of latitude and longitude. The prominent lines of his ribs, knees, ankles, and collarbones. The shaggy and untrimmed hair that was nearly at his sharp jawline and the white, rather than grey, strands. The sharpness of his cheekbones and the dullness of his dark eyes.

It was bad, he wasn't going to deny it. Not with the evidence at hand. Yet he refused to be discouraged. He would come back from this. Being found by Goldstein had been the first step. The rest would be up to him.

Percival rubbed his mouth at the next memory. He had wanted for that to have been the case. Except that decision had also been taken out of his hands. Yet he couldn't bring himself to be indignant about the outcome.

Newt and Tina's magic had pulled him back from the precipice he had been on the edge of. They had also managed to replenish the core of his badly depleted magic and had physically healed him.

It had also tied all three of them together and Percival wasn't ready to even _begin_ exploring that situation. Not yet. He needed to untangle his own locked away trauma before he could even begin to verbalize anything he had undergone. He was under no illusion that they had an inkling of what had happened. Particularly Newt, since he was European and aware of what Grindelwald was capable of.

Percival had inkling he would receive sympathy from Newt. He didn't want to doubt Tina, but he feared that her sympathy would be tinged with pity and it wasn't something that he could bear from his one-time protege. He didn't think he'd ever be able to bear it if it happened to come true.

A soft knock at the door prevented him from following that train of thought.

“Come in.”

He winced at the roughness of his voice. It was better than the harsh whisper it had been when he had just arrived, but it still made him wonder if he'd ever speak normally ever again. Luckily, his visitor didn't mind and only smiled at him, making him unconsciously smile back. Newt's smile was always infectious and despite his inner turmoil, Percival was quick to always return it.

He'd never admit it, but he felt just a slight bit of hope whenever Newt looked at him. His eyes always blue and sparkling and his smile wide and genuine and never once faltering. It was a much needed balm to Percival's raw soul and Mercy Lewis was he grateful he was getting it. He didn't dare let himself think of the alternative.

“How are you today, Percival?”

Newt inquired politely as he sat down in the chair that was close to the door. He carefully set his suitcase under the chair and waited politely for Percival to speak. That solicitousness made the smile a little bigger before he exhaled and nodded.

“Good. I can't wait to see the back of this place.”

He admitted, making Newt nod as he then reached for his suitcase and open it just wide enough to extract a large, brown wrapped package. He put it on his lap before latching the case securely and handing it over to Percival.

“You can hardly be expected to go home in a robe. I picked up a few things for you before we head home. Tina and Queenie are there fixing up the wards as we speak.”

Percival nodded as his fingers tightened around the package as a surge of warmth rose in his chest. He shouldn't have been so affected by a simple gift of clothing, yet there he was. He was touched that Newt and Tina had taken the time to do all those small thoughtful things for him, rather than just bringing the clothes that Grindelwald had worn and kept the house with the old wards and possibly untouched. He was sure that it was their idea to do so. Picquery was practical, but couldn't afford to be sentimental like Newt and Tina could. He could understand. He had to make the same choices often enough himself.

“Thank you. It's...” Percival swallowed hard as he tried to get his emotions under control. “It's very thoughtful of you. I really appreciate it.”

Newt ducked his head and his face went slightly pink at the praise. It was an endearing sight and it made Percival want to slip his fingers under Newt's chin and tilt his face upwards to see those bright blue eyes crinkled in pleasure,rather than hidden under his fringe. His fingers tingled to do it, but he knew it wasn't the time to take those liberties just yet. Besides, he needed to get dressed and get out.

There would be time for that later, he promised himself. There would be.

He put the package down on his lap and smoothed his hands over the thread, loosening it up to reveal a dark navy suit that was so dark as to be almost black, a silver-grey shirt, matching tie and underthings. Shoes were at the bottom as well as a few toiletries. He nodded in satisfaction at the clothing. Navy wasn't his usual colour, but he didn't see himself wearing black just yet.

He had just placed the package on the bed and stood up to get dressed when Newt himself scrambled up and with a mumbled apology, stepped out of the room to give him privacy. It left Percival blinking behind him. He didn't call Newt back though, despite the words being right there in his throat. He was glad that Newt was tactful enough to leave him alone to get dressed. It had been far too long that he had been afforded the luxury of privacy and he was going to indulge in it.

He moved quickly, dressing and shaving quickly and even combing his hair into a semblance of order before calling Newt back in. Newt reappeared quickly enough, but said nothing. His eyes were too focused into taking in the sight that was Percival Graves. His cheeks pinked again and he gave Percival a weak smile as he shook himself out of the reverie he had been in. He only grabbed his suitcase and tilted his head towards the hall.

“Shall we?”

Percival smiled then. “We shall.”

~*~*~*~*

Graves had finally stopped screaming, finally locking himself away from whatever nightmares he had experienced. He sat at the dining room table of heavy old oak and stared at the wallpaper with blank eyes. Or rather, eyes that were looking inwards. Just like he had been doing when Tina and Newt had burst into his room and gotten him to the table while Newt bustled about the kitchen and brewed up coffee and tea for them. It wasn't chocolate, but the warmth would be enough to calm everyone down and maybe be able to get them back to sleep. Although Tina privately doubted that, since she could already see the sky lightening with the beginnings of the day dawning. She didn't say anything and watched as Newt took care of everything with brisk and unobtrusive efficiency.

Tina gratefully accepted the cup of coffee from Newt and clasped it tightly between her cold hands to stop the shaking in them. She murmured a quiet thanks and sipped it carefully. She didn't raise her eyes from the rim of her cup, but only listened as Newt gave a cup of tea to Graves, his tone quiet and comforting as he handed him the cup. Graves made a rough sound himself as he took it, swearing softly and hissing after.

This made Tina look up and see that Graves' hands were shaking so badly that he had spilled scalding tea over himself. His skin was already turning red and Newt was mopping up the spilled tea from his hands and quickly muttering a healing charm, careful to not irritate the skin as he did so. In moments, Graves' hands were back to normal, but Newt wasn't letting them go.

In fact, he was holding onto them and staring at Graves with such intensity that Tina wondered what he was seeing. She got her answer soon enough when he sat down next to Graves and pulled him into a loose embrace that Graves didn't resist. She watched only for a few seconds before she felt that call from their combined magics. They wanted her. They needed her. It was reminiscent of the first time that they had met. She recalled it all too clearly what had happened before she had jumped in and she wasted no time in walking towards them and carefully putting her hands on both of their shoulders.

The flow of magic only snapped slightly at the intrusion, but settled down soon enough, welcoming her into the fold without much resistance. Newt raised his head briefly and smiled weakly at her.

It was happening again. Graves was calling to Newt and to her. But at least he called to her before it was too late, rather than leaving it until the house nearly shook off its foundations.

It was a rough improvement.

But it was improvement and she would take it. No matter how small.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graves- I see him as a soldier who has gone through hell and is slowly coming back. He won't deny he needs help and is fully aware that he will get that with Newt and Tina. They're the only ones he sort of trusts and will help him untangle all that is going through his head.  
> Newt-He's the mother figure in this, while Tina is the father figure in how they help Graves deal. Newt is also noticing Graves more than just being a creature in need of help. Tina...she's not quite there yet. She needs to sort it out. But yeah, Newt is there. 
> 
> My job has basically been kicking my ass, since I teach six classes and I mostly come home to sleep. I'm that exhausted. I am also grateful for the week long break. I'm hoping to possibly get out another chapter. We'll see. 
> 
> Chapter is from Kodaline's "All I Want Pt.1" and if any mistakes appear they will be fixed. Cheers!


	6. We Are Lost If We Don't Ask. So Please, Please...Just Ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theseus has his hands full with Grindelwald and his special brand of chaos when he gets a letter from his baby brother. Percival comes to several realisations and gets an unexpected visitor from his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man. Work has been keeping me busy and this chapter was a bit hard to plan out and outline. So many feels! Anyways, title is from Snow Patrol's "In the End". Proofed and edited, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed later.

Theseus carefully pulled out his tall frame from the crouch he had been in and cautiously held out his wand as he walked towards where they had cornered one of Grindelwald’s followers. A Mcnair of small standing, but still dangerous enough to need to be apprehended. 

Mcnair had stopped hexing them for a long while. Theseus hoped that it wasn’t a ruse, but he was sure that one of Jones’ hexes had hit its intended target.  Murray, a plain looking recruit from Edinborough, was also cautiously checking out the coast. 

He had several nasty gashes across his face where a wayward hex had nicked him and although they had stopped bleeding, he didn’t look too eager to face danger again. 

They approached the suspect carefully, not taking their eyes or wands off of him for a moment. He had caught Theseus by surprise and if it hadn’t been for the shield he had thrown up at the last moment, he wouldn’t be walking, he knew that for sure. He caught their eyes and signalled them to spread out so that they could co-ordinate an attack if needed. 

Jones and Murray nodded, doing as they were asked and formed a loose triangle.

And just in time. 

Their quarry jumped up, wand at the ready to utter what Theseus knew would be an unforgivable curse. He only got the first syllable out, the rest drowned out by a loud roar and bang. His eyes widened in shock as he stiffened, his wand dropping from his fingers. He gasped a few times and touched the blooming wet rose of blood that had appeared on his chest. He gasped a few times, looking around himself as to try and figure out how it had ended like so before his legs gave out and he dropped dead.

“So much for wizarding superiority. Stupid bastard never saw that coming.”

Theseus looked up from the dead body to see Murray putting the safety back on what looked like an officer’s revolver, a weapon he had only seen briefly during his time in the French front. Dimly, he recalled that Murray was muggle born and would of course, know how handle firearms. He should have been writing him up, but Theseus was just relieved that the standoff had finally come to an end with only one casualty. One that they had suspected would happen either way.  Besides, Murray was right about the irony and Theseus’ only regret was that Murray hadn’t shot Mcnair earlier. 

Jones snorted as he checked to make sure that the dark wizard was truly dead before he looked at Theseus. 

“You want me to call the clean-up squad, Scamander?”

“Yes. The sooner we get them over here, the sooner this shift can end.”

Murray cheered quietly before he made his contraband revolver disappear. 

Theseus didn’t blame him. It had been a fucker of a day.

~*~*~*~*

Theseus closed the door behind him with a quiet click. Merlin, he was exhausted! Grindelwald and his cronies were giving the Ministry a run for their money. Theseus was trying to not get discouraged, but it felt like as the days went on, they were fighting against an impossible foe. Many wizards had flocked to Grindelwald's banner, tired of hiding amongst the muggles in order to survive. 

  
It was appalling to see and hear the rhetoric and to see how many believed it and wanted a pure blood wizarding society to be established. Theseus despised the hatred that these policies bred and he feared that they would again be plunged into another war because of them. Already, there were reports of what Grindelwald and his followers were doing not just in Romania, but in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and if the reports were right, Germany. 

  
The last made his mouth flatten into a tight line as he hung up his coat and loosened his tie. He toed off his shoes and took off his hat, tossing it on one of the wall hooks before entering the kitchen. He spelled the kettle and accioed a mug, milk and tea. He would have liked some firewhiskey, but knew that wasn't a good path to go to. Not when the clouds looming over Europe were getting darker and darker as Grindelwald walked free to spread his hatred and poison to willing ears.

While he waited for the water to boil, he rubbed his burning eyes and leaned against the counter. He ran his hands through his greasy hair and winced at the feel of it. He didn’t remember when it had been the last time that he had showered and made a mental note to take care of that properly before he was back on duty. He shook his head and lowered his hand, inadvertently brushing against an envelope that he had somehow missed in his preoccupation with getting something warm into his system and collapsing into bed until he was supposed to be out on patrol again. 

He sighed and picked it up while he wondered if he had fallen behind correspondence with the office or something similar. His parents understood that he wasn’t always going to have time to write. Nor the safety to do so. Newt himself was more often than not accessible, so he didn’t expect it to be from him. 

So it was a surprise to see his brother’s shaky, but legible scrawl on the front of the tea stained brown envelope. 

“Huh. What tales do you have tell, baby brother?”

Theseus muttered to himself as he grabbed a butter knife and slipped it under the glued shut flap, tearing it open to reveal a fairly thick missive consisting of hurried and disjointed writing. Almost as if it was written in starts and bursts. Theseus frowned at the writing. Despite Newt’s flakiness, he never wrote letters like the one Theseus held in his hand at that moment. They were usually written in one shot when Newt had grabbed enough time to write a well thought out letter. It was a ritual that Theseus himself had started when he had been at the front in the first war, sending missives during the horrific lulls in the action. 

He swallowed hard and put the letter down on the table before he summoned the bottle of firewhiskey. It wasn’t going to be a good night and Newt’s letter looked like it wasn’t going to improve matters much either. He poured three fingers of the stuff into the cup before dunking the tea in and quickly pouring the water over it. He let it steep and got milk and sugar in. Once he had doctored it to his taste, he sat down and unfolded the letter. 

_ “Theseus, Dear brother. Hope this letter finds you well. There have been unconfirmed rumours of what that bastard has been up to. Percival is worried and Tina and I fear for him. For his mental state and the fact that there might be more damage from that fucking prick that can ever be repaired.” _

Theseus nearly choked on his tea, the burn of the whiskey and hot water nearly scalding his throat. He coughed a bit and took another sip. Better. The whiskey didn’t hurt now that it had gone down properly. He also resolved to not drink anything until he had read Newt’s letters at least once in the future if he didn’t want to do himself permanent injury. 

It wasn’t that Newt was a saint. Far from it. Leta Lestrange and the war had done their best to strip him of anything saintly that he may have ever possessed. No. What surprised him was the fact that Newt was so  _ transparent  _ in regards to his feelings. 

And not just any feelings, but his feelings towards  _ Percival Graves.  _

Theseus knew Percival Graves from recon work during the war. They had to work together along with the Canadian contingent due to the sheer numbers and bloodymindedness of the Eastern European Wizards and their muggle counterparts. He had liked Graves well enough. The man seemed indefatigable and was good at his job. Sometimes, a little  _ too  _ good. He had no room to talk though. They all had to learn to be ruthless and get the job done. Lives depended on what they were willing to do and Theseus had to admit that was the only thing that got him through the entire war.

The idea of Newt being hurt or maimed kept him going. He didn’t know what motivated Graves, but he suspected it had to be more than just love of country. He didn’t get to ask him though. Despite the downtime, there wasn’t the right time or mood for too deep questions. If neither man volunteered the information, then it went unsaid. 

Yet despite the silence, Theseus trusted Graves with his life and he knew that the American felt the same about him. It made the missions bearable, knowing that he had an extremely powerful wizard watching his back. Theseus still wasn’t sure how they survived all those years and miles of muddy countryside. Only that they did. 

They kept in touch, but the years and new troubles had slowed their communications to a crawl, something that Theseus was now regretting. If they had worked harder to maintain that bond, would they have caught Grindelwald earlier? Would Graves have been spared the damage that his brother spoke so plainly about?

He sighed and rubbed his eyes before taking a large gulp of the whiskey laced tea. He wanted to feel guilty and blame himself and say that it would have made a difference. But he didn’t. Not when he had faced that exact situation with Graves at his side many times during the war. 

He could still hear the darkly amused tone of Graves as they sat in some filthy dugout, sharing the little of the whiskey left in their rations. 

“You could let the guilt eat you up completely over what you could have done. Or you can accept that you’re not always going to be there to pick up the pieces. No one has that power. Not me, not you. The best thing you can do is grieve and keep going. You’re alive. They aren’t.”

Theseus smiled half-heartedly as he recalled the roughness of Graves’ accent and low tenor of his voice, roughened after near constant shouting in the field. He had been right, Theseus could admit then and could admit now. Grindelwald was a devious and cunning wizard. A power in his own right and the fact that Graves was still alive after meeting him was a testament of his own innate strength. Others hadn’t been so lucky. 

Graves was battered and barely strung up together with borrowed magic, but he was still alive. Still moving forward. There were many Aurors and villagers in Eastern Europe that weren’t. There were such things as small blessings, as both Flanningan and Murray, two of his muggle-born aurors would say. 

Shaking his head, he pulled himself out of his meandering thoughts and focused on the letter again. 

_ “He reminds me of you when you had just come back from the front. The same remoteness and the same carefully hidden struggle to hide the fact that he’s scared he’ll fly into pieces at any given moment. We have helped, his magic is nearly at his normal levels. He’s almost as proficient with non-verbal magic as he was before all of this, Tina assures me. _

_ I fear it isn’t enough and I fear that what is needed...Might be the one thing that could change everything between all of us. And I don’t dare broach it. I can’t.” _

The rest of the letter was daily minutiae of his life together with Tina and Percival and the creatures that were still hidden in his case. Theseus could read between the lines though and saw that Percival’s name was mentioned more often than the creatures who used to take up all of the room of his letters in the past. Tina came a close second. 

As well as the Niffler, something that made him give a huff of amusement. 

He wasn’t particularly fond of the little thieving bastards, but he understood the attachment that Newt had to that particular one. And the Moon calves. Something that was also shared by Percival, it seemed. 

_ “He spends more time with them in their enclosure, something I never thought I’d see from him, if I’m being honest. Tina is as surprised as I am, since the Graves are mostly a city family. You wouldn’t think so, looking at how he takes care of them. The niffler is in heaven, being carted around place to place and given baubles to hide in his nest.  _

_ I worry, since some of them look fairly valuable, but Percival only shrugs his shoulders when we bring it up. It’s his home and they are his possessions, but still…The lack of concern is worrying in and of itself. He...He is here, but not really. I am not even sure if he really sees me. _

_ Only after the nightmares do I know for sure that he does, when his magic-” _

The letter ended abruptly there and Theseus actually turned it around to see if there was anything else to the message. There wasn’t.  He tossed the sheaf onto the table and finished off his tea with one gulp, barely registering the burn down his throat.

He knew what it was that Newt was hinting at. That time just after the war at their parent’s farm. All of it was so familiar it was like looking backwards into his own life.  The bleakness, the apathy, the search for something that felt like it was gone forever. He was all too familiar with that darkness. That trauma. 

He also understood what Newt was indirectly asking him for. 

And Theseus couldn’t ever say no to his little brother.

~*~*~*~*~

Percival found himself lying on the small cot in Newt’s suitcase with one of the mooncalves lying on the bed beside him. It’s head was on his chest and it was snoozing deeply, He scritched it behind the ears and smiling faintly as it responded sleepily to being scratched. He should have been sleeping also, but couldn’t do it when he woke up from the umpteenth nightmare and with Tina asleep in the bed beside him. 

Her arm had been draped around his middle and despite finding it comforting, he was slightly embarrassed at having one of his underlings be his teddy bear to keep the fractured nightmares at bay. It also was a matter of his own tangled emotions that made him get up and seek some space. Space that he usually found in Newt’s case. 

Newt had left the case open, knowing that Percival needed to get away sometimes and that was the least he could offer at the time. He was still too unstable to be let out into the city, the bustle and crowds triggering him to the point that he had nearly broken the statute of secrecy himself. It had been a close call and it was a tacit understanding that when he was feeling suffocated, the case and its habitats were there for him to use. 

He must have known that Percival needed the interlude, since he wasn’t around. Or maybe he was and Percival hadn’t wanted to search him out just then. For the first time in a long time, he needed to be alone just with his thoughts and make some more progress on returning to being Percival Graves. It was both a freeing and unnerving to him and he wasn’t going to lie and say that the presence of the Mooncalf beside him and the Niffler in his pocket certainly helped.  

Being in the case also helped, since it had come to symbolise safety and  _ home _ to him than any other place had ever since he had become and adult. He shifted a bit and sighed, rubbing his eyes before he closed them. He didn’t dwell on the feeling that he was intruding or being a burden. 

It was in his nature to be fiercely independent. Something that had taken a beating in the past while. He had, with practice, shut down the feeling that he was abusing Tina and Newt’s generosity. He tried to not go into the case very often, even though he was getting the feeling that Newt was more than happy to help out. Tina too and he had a feeling that they were just biding their time until he gave them the invitation to do more than just help.

He bit his lip as he lay there, his eyes now open and staring at the ceiling as his fingers mindlessly moved around the Mooncalf’s head. He knew it wasn’t good, these strong feelings towards them. Especially since Tina was his co-worker and subordinate. And Newt...Newt was his own creature and not a constant. Even if he did want it. 

And that was the problem. 

Percival didn’t know if he really wanted them. Or was simply projecting all of his gratitude into something romantic. Or maybe it was all just a side effect of his magic calling theirs. He didn’t know and didn’t even want to speculate or research if it was. He wasn’t one for closing his eyes to facts, but this once, he had to do it. 

For the sake of his sanity and his still healing self, he had to push it away and pretend he wasn’t seeing it. Or hoping for it whenever he looked into Newt’s and Tina’s eyes. Or when they touched him and his magic fairly leapt towards them. He didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes he’d seen at the front, so even though part of him was crying out for that completion, the sensible part of him kept him in check and focused on repairing the cracks of who Percival Graves was. 

He chewed on his lip and lay still until he heard footsteps. Familiar footsteps coming to the small alcove where he was lying. He didn’t plan on moving. Not when the Niffler and the Mooncalf were comfortable and happy beside him. He didn’t have the heart to jostle them when they had chosen to stay with him and offer him company. He wouldn’t dare.

So he stayed still and waited for Newt to come in, despite knowing that Newt would probably coo over how adorable they all looked lying there together. If it was a small price to pay, he’d gladly pay it. He turned his head and saw that yes, it was Newt. A rumpled looking Newt who still lit up when he saw him and only held himself back from cooing due to the presence of a taller, broader wizard with the same unruly red curls and startling blue eyes as him. 

It was only then that Percival sat up in surprise, making the travel stained wizard smile.

“It’s been awhile Percival.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of an introspection between Theseus and Percival here, with a bit of Newt. I wanted to show what was going on across the pond and how it could have possibly been before World War II broke out. America was very isolationist and across the pond, things were heating up and I wanted to have those parallels here.   
> Theseus-I had in mind that he and Percival would know each other from a professional stand-point and also a war standpoint. They would have been intelligence and would have more than likely seen trench warfare. More will be revealed on what their experiences in the war were. I think it's because I have Sam Heughan as my Theseus fancast and he plays Jaime Fraser, a character who has seen a ton of trauma and war that it has leeched into my head cannon for Theseus.  
> Percival-He's slowly finding his way back and is more cognizant that he may be playing with fire, but is still in the nascent stages of getting over the trauma and his responses are a bit weird. Sort of quasi, pseduo, semi-based on RL. He's also a bit bewildered over how he's processing things and in a way, uses the Niffler and the Mooncalf as security blankets. 
> 
> Songs for this chapter are:  
> Lay it on me-Rudimental  
> Vindicated-Dashboard Confessional  
> Mr. November-The National  
> All I Want Parts 1and 2-Kodaline  
> Geronimo-Sheppard  
> In the End-Snow Patrol


	7. Don't Have To Prove That You Are So Strong, Cause I Can Carry You On My Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina and Newt get some time together and discuss their circumstances. Theseus listens and offers advice after Percival finally gives him a glimpse of what he had been carrying inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter to write due to a bit of writer's block and also due to no time until recently. The pacing and also the framing of how things would go was tricky until now. Newt and Tina get to have some time to themselves, and Percival and Theseus get to talk. 
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed later. 
> 
> Title is from Snow Patrol's "It's Beginning To Get To Me"

Tina tried to not fidget as she and Newt waited for their coffee and food to arrive. They were sitting in a booth in a nondescript no-maj coffee shop that Newt had discovered awhile ago. Tina would have preferred to have gone to Jacob’s, but one look at Newt’s pale, set face made her swallow her objections. She had to admit that it was a nice enough place and she was hungry enough to follow Newt’s lead and order some sandwiches and a slice of pie along with her coffee.

She folded her hands in front of her and rested them on the table top and tried to not think about what could possibly be going on in the Graves’ brownstone. She and Newt knew that it was going to happen after Theseus had arrived a week ago. In fact, she was relieved that it had finally happened. Despite the lightness that Theseus’ arrival had brought to all of them, there had been an anticipation that things would come to a head. 

Tina figured that it was the day when Newt had suggested that he and Tina go to a coffee shop he had found earlier. Tina wanted to protest, but had quickly noticed the tightness around his eyes and the too bright shine of his eyes and had agreed. They had only stopped to tell a quietly conversing Theseus and Percival where they were going. The older men had only nodded and continued to speak quietly to each other. 

Newt and Tina had made their way to the shop in silence that they only broke to speak to the cheerful waitress and give her their orders. The silence stayed with them until Tina finally couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave them alone? Even if they knew each other during the war, Mr. Graves- Percival, I mean- isn’t the same man he was back then.”

Tina blurted out when the silence between them stretched out to the point of being painful. At least to Tina, since Newt seemed to be far away from her and the shop. He blinked at her, his eyes wide with that startled look he got when he was surprised out of wherever his thoughts had gone. It took him a moment, but he quickly recovered and smiled at her. The small, close lipped smile that made the corner of his mouth curve up that made her heart start beating just a tad quicker. The one that he would give Percival when things had gotten a little too dark and heavy in the middle of the night and made Percival’s dark eyelashes fan against his cheekbones.

She was taken away from her musings on the two men that had somehow begun to mean as much to her as Queenie did when Newt answered her. 

“Even though he is older than I and saw the war, Theseus has never let me down in anything I’ve asked of him. He has experience in dealing with the marks that  _ we _ don’t. Even if they haven’t spent time together since the war, I’m sure that they would take that into consideration and accommodate accordingly for it. Or simply won’t be allowed to see.”

The last was said quietly, but it jarred Tina as much as if he had shouted the words. She had suspected that Percival was not being as forthcoming as he should have been . She just hadn’t figured out a way to tactfully get him to open up. After all, he had been the one who had taught her all she knew and helped her refine the little that he hadn’t. He would have seen her coming from a mile away. 

Even Newt, with his innate empathy, was having a hard time in getting him to open up. Percival had shown him some of his trauma. Not verbally. Well, not much. The rest, Newt could hazard from his long experience with wounded and hunted animals. There was always a mark left upon them, no matter how much time had passed, of the experiences that they had gone through. It was indelible and easily missed by those not looking for it. But Newt could see it on Percival and had treated him with the according care that those marks needed. 

Percival had responded, but there was still a part of him that Newt nor Tina could reach. Tina had only been hurt and bewildered, not understanding why Percival had firmly shut them out of knowing everything about himself. But Newt knew why he was distant. He had seen Theseus do the same after a particularly bad spell at the front. 

“Why does he think it necessary to such distance from us? Doesn’t he want our help? Doesn’t he want to leave it behind and go back to his life?”

Tina asked in a harsh whisper. 

Newt reached over and placed his hand over her own cold one in a gesture of comfort that did more than that and mader her pale cheeks flood with colour instead. For someone who was so shy and tended to jump when spoken to, Newt was a tad more tactile than she was used to. Even after living together, she still hadn’t gotten used to how often he touched her or Percival. She wasn’t quite touch adverse, but after spending her time only with her sister, there were only a select few she reserved it to. 

Percival, she recalled, had no problems receiving touches. She strongly suspected that no matter what things Grindelwald had done to him, he was  _ that _ touched starved. He had flinched and stiffened at the beginning, but had quickly adapted to being touched. Newt’s gentle touches were the perfect antidote to whatever it was that Grindelwald did to him when he was held captive.

“Don’t, don’t think that, Tina. It’s not like that. More like he wants to keep us protected from what he believes is so awful that it must be kept contained.”

Tina’s eyes widened at that possibility. “Why would he feel that way though?”

Newt’s eyes lowered to the table and his teeth worried his lower lip as his face turned pink.

“I think it could be because he...He is afraid he might lose us otherwise. Just like I am afraid of losing him. And you.”

Tina’s face went pink at that possibility and her mouth opened and closed as she fought to find the words to that possibility. She was still trying to properly formulate when Newt let go of her hand. She looked up and saw the waitress was on her way with their drinks and food. Tina was more or less composed when the waitress set their food and coffee in front of them with a cheerful bid to enjoy. 

She didn’t think she would, but Newt gave no indication he wanted to continue the conversation. He was digging into his food enthusiastically and that made Tina remember that she too, was starving. She picked up her cup and took a long sip. They would talk later. She would make sure of it.

~*~*~*~*~*

The silence had stretched to the point of thinness after all of the neutral topics had been exhausted. Percival knew that he was the one that had to break it. He knew the reason why Newt and Tina had left them alone. Knew that it was coming the day that he had seen his old friend standing at the foot of the cot in Newt’s case. 

He wasn’t one to shy away from a situation and knew that it had to be addressed. But first, he needed to gather himself. It was, after all, a battle that he was facing.

Percival leaned against the counter, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he looked down at the black and white tiles. Theseus himself was sitting at the dining table a few feet away from him, his jacket draped over his chair and his shirt-sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms with bursts of scar tissue scattered across them. They had faded from the angry pink that they had been at the war. 

Percival remembered that day all too clearly, since he also bore a similar pattern on his left arm, when he had pulled Theseus back into safety after the spitfire spell had blazed through the clearing. He shut his eyes as the scent of charred flesh and smoke filled his memories. He felt nausea rising up and pushed it down. He didn’t need to deal with those memories on top of the ones Grindelwald had given him. Besides, he had already dealt with those. 

He needed to deal with the ones from Grindelwald instead. 

He opened his eyes a fraction and looked at Theseus, who had steepled his hands together and was watching him, an eyebrow raised as he waited for Percival to act. It was a small comfort to see that some things hadn’t changed at all. This was a familiar routine. He could follow this and not be overwhelmed or lost. 

He could do this.

He just had to figure out what he needed to say in order to get the conversation started. A well lit kitchen was utterly different than being in a muddy trench or a half derelict farmhouse. There were shadows in which to hide when the truth got to be too much. At least they had Firewhiskey and some No-Maj stuff smuggled in from Canada to take the edge off.

He opened and closed his mouth and ran his hands through his hair as he fought to marshal the thoughts swirling about in his head into some semblance of order. They had been pushed so far back in his mind that it was hard work pulling them out and shaping them into coherent sentences. Not to mention mentally preparing himself to deal with the brunt of shame that they brought whenever he even dared to glance in that direction.

He looked out the window and heaved a heavy sigh as he took in the civil twilight. It was the idea of saying all those things to another human being that terrified him. To have Theseus and Newt and Tina-Yes, even Tina-know about Grindelwald and all of the marks he had left on Percival’s was turning him inside out. To have them look upon him with disgust, or worse, pity, was the one thing that he simply could not bear. 

Despite knowing and having concrete proof that none of them were like that, the fear still lurked there that he was wrong. He hadn’t enough strength to be rational about his thoughts. 

Even though he instinctively knew deep down that he could also trust them with this. Just like he had trust them with his health and mind, he could trust them with his heart also. 

But to get there…

He swallowed hard and took several deep breaths, letting them out slowly as he counted down to calm his nerves. Once he was sure he wasn’t going to vomit, he turned to his friend and spoke. 

“He carved me up, Theseus. He carved me up from the inside out and I’m afraid he’s taken the best of me with him.”

Theseus remained silent as he listened to that hoarsely given explanation. It was, much to his chagrin, exactly what he had been expecting as he had waited for Percival to open the conversation.  He hadn’t wanted that fact to be true, despite suspecting it. He had heard rumours and whispers of what went on in the darkness of the trenches in the front. He had met some that had gone through it, vowing never to speak of it to anyone for the rest of their lives. 

He also was quite aware of what Grindelwald was like. He had seen the unfortunate few victims he had left behind. Theseus had to say that despite the trauma, Graves was doing far better than they.  He had always had resilience. That innate stubbornness where he couldn’t lie down and give up. He had still inside him. Grindelwald couldn’t ever destroy it. In fact, he was convinced that there was no power on earth that could ever break Graves. They could come close, they could crack him, but they would never defeat him.

Theseus also suspected that this survival instincts had been behind the instinctual grab for Newt and Tina’s magic, Graves wouldn’t have lasted a month after being rescued. They were his anchor. The North Star that kept him following the path of the living.

Those others hadn’t been so lucky. 

They also had succumbed to the fear and the shame that even  _ thinking _ about what had been done to them had made them unworthy and had left them less than men. He could see that Graves was close that precipice. The taut way that he held himself, the hollowness in his gaze, all of it showed the inner struggle of someone who needed help, yet didn’t trust himself to ask for it.

Yet he did, in that admission. 

And Theseus would help him.

“He didn’t, Percival. He never could.”

Percival’s gaze shot to Theseus at those words that were spoken with calmness and a gravity that couldn't make anyone refute their validity.

“I can see that you don’t believe me. Maybe part of you does, the part that my brother has seen. The part that Miss Goldstein has as well. But you’re an Auror, Graves. Would you treat a victim the same way that you’re treating yourself?”

Graves snorted as he ran his hand through his hair. “You know I wouldn’t, Theseus. Not even for a second.”

“Then why do it to yourself? He hurt you without your permission.  _ You never asked for any of it. _ So don’t punish yourself for what he did to you. He doesn’t have the power or the right. You are Percival Graves. You always will be. You are not your mistakes or what he did to you. You are Percival Graves, Wampus Alumni, Director of Security of MACUSA, my friend, the love of Tina Goldstein and Newton Scamander and those are things  that he cannot and will not take away from you.”

Percival’s chin trembled as the words fell heavily between them.  He heard the words and they became clearer and held more meaning than they had in the past. He had refused to understand them when Tina had said them to him. When Newt had calmed him down from another nightmare. He realised now that it was disingenuous to keep this away from them, even if it was meant in the noblest of intentions behind the gesture. 

Theseus watched him and it was then that he stood up. Slowly and carefully, and made his way towards his old friend, stopping until he was a foot away from Percival, who was now holding himself tightly, as if he was afraid that he would shatter into pieces at the merest touch. 

“Come here, Perce.”

Theseus was surprised when Percival stepped into the loose embrace he offered. He was even more surprised when he finally cried. Silent, pain-filled sobs that wracked his frame that Theseus knew for a fact he had been holding back for months. He waited for Percival to release all those emotions that he had been locking down so tightly inside of him before he let his friend go. 

“Better? At least for now?”

He wasn’t naive. He knew that this was another step in Percival’s healing process. It was by no means the end. But it was further than he had been before Theseus himself had arrived.

Percival nodded and wiped his face with the pocket square that Theseus offered him. He blew his nose and Theseus flicked his wand in the direction of where he had stashed the bottle of Firewhiskey. 

“A drink then?”

Percival laughed quietly and nodded his agreement. Theseus grinned back and summoned  the bottle. 

“Drink up.”


	8. I Just Want Somebody I Can Kiss. I Want Something Just Like This.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Percival is strong enough, Theseus decides that it is time to leave. Not only does the Ministry need their man on the ground, Percival, Newt and Tina need time to figure out the next step of their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been obsessing over "Something Like This." and Colin Farrell's role in "A Home in The End of the World." where he was so vulnerable and raw. Also, the Danish Girl did contribute a bit to this as well. Edited, but if mistakes appear, they shall be edited later. 
> 
> Title is from the song "Something Like This."

Newt and Tina realised that something had changed the moment that they had apparatus into the brownstone. They couldn't quite put their finger on what had changed, only that it had. The atmosphere was lighter, and the scent of sorrow was lessened. The brownstone smelled like fresh coffee and tea. And pastries. The rich scents were enough to draw them to the kitchen where Theseus, Percival, and…

“Queenie? What are you doing here?”

Tina asked, utterly surprised and slightly guilty at seeing her sister after not having gone back to their apartment for months. Queenie only arched a delicately plucked eyebrow and quickly made her way to her sister. 

“It’s okay, Teenie. I was filled in when I dropped by.”

Her face darkened a bit and Tina had to smother a laugh at her sister’s annoyance at being shut out of both Percival and Theseus’ heads. She had reminded Queenie awhile ago that even though Percival wasn’t quite up to the usual standards, he was still pretty strong. Theseus was a top Auror, so there was no way she’d get anything there. 

It still didn’t stop her from trying, though. 

“Don’t say it, Teens. I know.”

Queenie murmured in her ear before she went back to the range and started to cook with the ingredients that were scattered on the counter. 

Theseus and Percival only glanced at Tina and Newt. Theseus winked at Tina, who blushed while Percival gave Newt a glance from underneath his thick black lashes that told him everything and nothing. It also had the effect of making Newt’s breath catch in his throat and a flush creep up his throat.  He swallowed hard to bring it down, but a knowing look from Theseus made him realise that it was pointless to hide his reaction. 

“Everything okay, Newt?”

Theseus asked, knowing full well that Percival wasn’t going to jump into a conversation just yet. Not when he had basically stripped himself bare. He also knew that Percival would like to know how Newt and Tina were, so he took the initiative to ask.  He knew he had done the right thing when Percival shot him a grateful look before setting his gaze onto the half-full tumbler of Firewhiskey he held in his hand.

Newt looked at his brother and Percival before nodding. 

“Tina and I made some headway ourselves. It was a good idea to get out.”

He replied carefully, not quite knowing why he was being so opaque. Maybe it was in the slightly curled in way that Percival was sitting in. Or the way that he was still quiet, but not with the same furtive silence that he had carried with him for all those months. But rather the quiet stillness of someone who needed to take a breath after successfully facing what had seemed an insurmountable task. 

It was a positive change that made Newt breathe a sigh of relief. He hadn’t known what to expect once he and Tina would come back home. He had been hoping for the best. Theseus had managed to face his own demons in the past. Newt had no doubt that his brother would be able to help Percival and get him through to the other side. 

Yet he was fully aware that not everyone could make it through. He had experienced enough losses himself to know that first hand. Still, he couldn’t waver in his conviction that things would work out. Permanently though...That remained to be seen. 

He wouldn’t dwell on that though. Not yet.

Especially not when it was all so fresh and so new. He wanted to hang onto the possibility of hope for as long as possible. He knew that he was risking breaking his own heart if he did that, but for the nascent love he had for Percival and Tina...He would take the risk and Merlin take it.  They weren’t Leda. They had proven that in their own ways. 

Even Percival, at his most broken, had put Newt and Tina’s well being ahead of his own. Newt’s cheeks flushed as he cast  a quick glance at Percival and nearly gasped when he saw those dark eyes were fixed upon him. His gaze was open, interested, and expectant. It was a look for him and for him alone, the rest of the occupants of the kitchen had fallen to the background. It was only them in the room and Newt felt like he was seeing exactly who Percival Graves truly was for the first time in ages.

“None of that just yet, little brother. Dinner is about to be served.”

Newt blinked at Theseus’ lightly spoken words, shaking himself free out of the trance that he and Percival had entered. He tore his gaze away from Percival with difficulty and looked at Theseus instead. He noticed that Queenie had moved to talk to Percival right before he turned to his brother. Although Theseus was still as calm and jovial as ever, Newt had known him long enough to see the warnings held in his voice. It wasn’t just for him, that reminder to take it slow. He was sure that Percival had gotten some kind of variation before they had shown up.

He wanted to protest, but he couldn’t figure out a counter argument that didn’t justify his brother’s wariness. Theseus watched him, only raising an eyebrow when Newt deflated and nodded. 

“Give him some time. Trust me. He just needs a bit of time. You won’t regret it if you give it to him.”

Theseus muttered as he turned to wink at Tina, who was hovering uncertainly at the edges and making her turn bright pink as she moved towards her seat, which was right beside Percival’s. Newt took the other and Theseus sat across from his friend. Queenie was the last and sat in a chair between Newt and Percival. She only gave them a soft smile of understanding before summoning dinner with a few dainty flicks of her wand. 

“You sure you won’t give me the recipe for this? I swear I wouldn’t spread it around.”

Theseus asked, half-joking as he took a bite of the hearty stew she had whipped up in what felt like no time. Newt shot a curious look at his brother, while Percival only covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes on his plate. Tina looked intrigued, but Queenie shook her head. 

“I’m quite sure, Mr. Gramander. Family vow. Can’t break it. But I’ll be happy to make it for you anytime you decide to drop in.”

Queenie replied sweetly, making Theseus blink and then shrug. Percival snorted a laugh as he put his spoon into the bowl and looked at his friend fondly. 

“Never could resist a good meal, could you, Theseus? Even in Belgium, you couldn’t resist charming the farm wives for their cooking.”

Tina choked on her last spoonful and Newt only sighed in good natured exasperation.

“Really, Theseus?”

He wanted to sound chiding, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when everything just felt so much more normal than it had ever felt in his life before.

“Come on, little brother. Don’t look at me like that. You can’t fault a bloke for trying.”

Newt’s lips curved upward and he had to smile, shaking his head as he looked at his brother. 

“No. I suppose I can’t. You always did like good food. That hasn’t changed. Remember the time that you somehow got into dessert despite mother putting all those charms on the pantry?”

Theseus grinned and then barked a laugh, making Percival raise an eyebrow. 

“You never  _ did _ tell me that one, Theseus. And you did promise in Flanders you would.”

Tina and Queenie exchanged a look. Flanders?

Theseus pushed his plate away and picked up his glass. 

“I guess I do owe it to you after all this time. Mind topping me up first?”

~*~*~*~*~

“I wish you could stay here permanently. We could use a man like you in the division.”

Percival commented as he leaned against the doorway of the room that had become Theseus’ own, instead of just another empty room in the brownstone. Theseus only nodded as he packed his suitcase, which had somehow gained more things than he had previously brought. There were luckily only three like that. One had been turned into a study years ago. There was this room and another one that was supposed to be Tina’s. She mostly used it as storage for her clothing. Queenie used it whenever she decided to drop in. 

No one really cared why Newt and Tina hadn’t used the bedrooms. Not when they saw the way that they hovered around Graves and each other in numerous combinations. It was only a matter of time before they took the next step and Theseus had decided it was time that he let them have the privacy to do so. Not to mention that his office was summoning him back. The Grindelwald situation was getting dire and they needed all the men on the ground that they could get. 

Theseus wasn’t completely sure if he wanted to go back to England. He was all too aware of what awaited him back there. A job offer at Macusa sounded like a good deal. He had grown to like the city after they had been able to get out more now that Graves had dealt with his demons. Duty called and he was nothing but dutiful. 

And all too aware of the tension that was growing between Graves, Newt, and Tina.

He didn’t want to intrude anymore on them than he had to. The past week, he had gotten the distinct impression that Newt wanted some time alone with Graves and Tina. But being Newt and being British, he wouldn’t even dream of telling his much beloved older brother to take a hike. He couldn’t blame Newt for wanting him gone. It was his first working relationship and he was eager to explore it. 

He didn’t voice his suspicions. He was glad that Newt was finally moving on from Leda LeStrange and all the damage that she had done to him. Graves wouldn’t ever hurt him. Neither would Tina. Newt had hit gold with both of them. 

It was time to go. 

“I’m a Ministry man, Perce. As tempting as it sounds, I have to go back. Things aren’t cooling off and I gotta hold down the fort. You know how that is.”

Theseus replied as he finally closed his suitcase and shrank it. He put it in his coat pocket and looked at Graves, who was looking thoughtful at the comment. 

“I used to. It’s not been my position for quite awhile and I must admit that I don’t know if I want it back.”

That made Theseus look at him sharply. 

“Are you thinking of leaving Macusa? After all this time?”

Percival ran his hand through his hair, which had gotten longer than Theseus had ever seen it. Even during the war, Percival had been fastidious with his hair. Idly, Theseus wondered if it was something that was there to stay. 

“Not leaving. But cutting back. The position  _ was _ my life. I could easily have delegated at least half of my tasks to capable aurors under me. I’ve been away for what? Almost five months and it hasn’t fallen apart. That’s proof that I can walk away and it’ll continue working, no problems. Besides…”

He trailed off and cleared his throat before continuing, his eyes somewhere above Theseus’ shoulder. 

“Working like that would mean spending less time with Newt and Tina and I’m not about to sacrifice that. Position and prestige be damned.”

Theseus nodded, glad to have his suspicions confirmed that all of the feelings were mutual and reciprocated. He was glad that Graves wasn’t as alone and that Tina wasn’t going to be left out either. He had a feeling that Tina had been a very lonely person, just like Newt and Graves had been. He thanked Merlin that they had found each other. Some didn’t even get that. 

“I can’t speak for either of them, but I’m sure that they’d appreciate that as well. I wish you well.”

Theseus replied, putting his suitcase in his pocket and moving past Percival in the doorway. He turned and clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder, both men sharing a smile before they went to the living room. Newt and TIna were standing close to each other, murmuring in whispers that stopped when they saw Percival and Theseus entering the room. 

Theseus watched as they drifted towards Percival and surrounding him while Percival moved to give them room. All of them moving as they had done it all their lives. He noted how Newt’s hand sought out Percival’s and how Percival wrapped his arm loosely around Tina’s waist. He also noticed how the Niffler climbed out of Newt’s coat and burrowed into Percival’s own, chittering happily when he found a gold coin in it and happily shoved it in his pouch. 

It was time. 

~*~*~*~

Percival didn’t quite know who it was that initiated the kiss between him and Tina. All he knew was that they had been standing by the sink, laughing about something or other, when he looked up and she was standing there. Her eyes were large and dark and her pulse beat rapidly in the hollow of her throat. She raised her hand and cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking across his cheekbone before they both moved in. 

She tasted of rose water and powdered sugar and her lips were so soft. Softer than he had expected. He pulled her closer so that her body was flush against his. Her lips parted wider as he deepened the kiss, his hands moving to her waist while hers moved down to his shoulders. 

They broke the kiss off when Percival heard Newt come into the kitchen, both of them surprised enough to move away from each other. He took in the scene without a word. Percival worried about his reaction for a split second. At least until Newt walked up to them and kissed Percival. A passionate kiss that felt to Percival like a claim and a promise at the same time.

He tasted of mint and chocolate and his eyes fluttered closed as Newt moved in and continued to kiss him, moving in to hold him as he felt his knees go weak. He was still reeling from the kiss as Newt pressed a soft kiss on his jaw and moved towards her. 

He swallowed as he watched them pull apart tenderly and glance at him. Their eyes were soft and dreamy and he was sure that he looked the same. He wanted them. As badly as they wanted him, he wanted them. 

“Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning to get this chapter out earlier this week, but the muse decided that I needed to write about Fernando Torres. His injury at the game last week sparked something. Then Xabi Alonso retired and a friend passed away. So its been rough, needless to say. But here it is.
> 
> I didn't want to have them just jump into the physical stuff right away. Percival's still pretty raw and as much as he would like to have the physical consummation, he needs time. That's why it's still not quite there. Next chapter for sure. And I think that the next chapter will probably be the last one.


	9. I Don't Want Some Fairy-Tale Bliss, Just Something I Can Turn To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percival, Tina, and Newt take the last step in their relationship to cement it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter here. It took a while to get it properly framed in regards to how they would be getting together and what it would mean for them. So here it is.  
> Proofed and title is from Coldplay and the Chainsmoker's "Something Like This"

They went to the bedroom that had once been Percival’s and was now theirs.  He honestly couldn’t really recall when it had just been his. Nor could he even feel the small traces of Grindelwald that he had left behind. He knew that they were there, in times that he turned too fast and saw them like cracks in the wall. He didn’t notice them as much as he had when he had just come home, looking like they had been scored into the foundations. Not anymore. 

He saw a flicker of one when they came into the room, but once he had waved the lamps on, they had disappeared, as if they were fleeing from the light that illuminated the room.  He didn’t have time to dwell on it. Not when Newt cupped his jaw and turned his head for a kiss. His mouth was warm and pliant as he kissed in slow, languorous movements Percival wouldn’t have ever believed Newt was capable of. 

He felt his knees go weak and he was glad that Tina had managed to pull both of them in the direction of the bed. They broke apart when Percival landed on the bed and he shimmied up to the pillows. He propped himself up on his elbows and watched as Tina and Newt kissed. It was different than how it was with him. Theirs was a more aggressive kiss, borne out of too long suppressed emotions that got the blood rushing down to his cock. 

He watched them as he palmed himself unselfconsciously. His cock was hard and if he didn’t take his trousers off, he was pretty sure he’d rip them open. He kept an eye on Tina and Newt, his breath catching in his throat as Newt sipped Tina’s blouse off her shoulders to reveal a light dove grey camisole that she shimmied out of to reveal expanses of creamy skin lightly sprinkled with moles here and there. Her nipples were pink and hard in the cold air. She shivered and Newt’s hands were there already to cover them. 

Newt’s hands distracted him and made him drag his eyes away from Tina. The sight of Newt, scarred and bare-chested, dappled with freckles in all his glory made his mouth go completely dry with painful desire. He had known, from the nights he had been pulled into embraces, that Newt was stronger than he appeared. Yet he hadn’t really seen Newt bare-chested in the time that they had lived together. 

Newt’s painfully British upbringing had shown itself in that area, since Percival had only seen him in shirts. Maybe with several buttons undone, but nothing that had shown him the sight he was privy to at that moment. His hands worked at his trousers and he had them off in seconds.His scars and marks didn’t even figure into it. How could they, with Newt being almost as marked as he was. He didn’t care that they’d see all of him. He knew that they certainly didn’t. They had proven it time and time again. One he was bare,  he took his cock in hand and gave it a few experimental strokes as he watched them both shuck the rest of their clothes and crawl over to him. 

Despite it being a very predatory move, he didn’t feel as if he was prey. Rather, he felt like he was a king being presented with his due. His tribute, which made a lovely picture full of contrasts as they moved to lie down next to him.

Tina mouthed wetly at his neck, while Newt slid his hand down from Percival’s chest to his hip. He was slow, letting his fingertips drag along Percival’s skin. It felt as if his touch was leaving scorch marks and Percival couldn’t help the ragged gasp that escaped his throat at Newt and Tina’s combined touch. Tina nipped at his neck and he had to close his eyes to not come. 

“What do you want, Percival? What would you like to do?”

Tina whispered in his ear while Newt’s hand hovered at his hip. 

“I want to take you while you’ve got Newt in your mouth. I want to take Newt while I watch you play with yourself until  you come. I want to make love to you both until we’re too exhausted to do anything else but sleep.”

Percival opened his eyes to see Newt and Tina looking at him with eyes dark and full of the same wanton desire that had prompted him to say all those things to them. He wasn’t lying. He wanted them. He wanted to show them how much he wanted them. He wanted to give them the same pleasure that he knew they would give him. 

He wanted it, but on his terms. He hadn’t had that chance in quite a long time and he was determined that Grindelwald’s dirty fingerprints wouldn’t soil this aspect of his life any longer either. He had carried his spectre with him long enough. 

“How do you want to do this?”

Percival sat up and looked at Tina.

“Move to the center of the bed and get on your knees for a start. Newt, move in front of Tina.”

They moved to where they were directed and it was only when they were comfortable enough that he knelt behind Tina. He grabbed her hips, pushing her a bit until she was in the perfect position. He nudged her legs with his knee, spreading her open a bit more before sliding his hand in the juncture between her legs. 

She lowered her head, her shoulder blades moving up and looking like wings about to burst out from the porcelain pale skin on her back. She shuddered, small tremors coursing through her as he slipped his fingers inside her and stroked her. She was getting wet and he helped her along by moving his hand up and stroking that swollen nub. 

Tina gave a small squeak as he did that, her body shuddering as he varied the pressure moving up and down and in tight circles before she was giving short, sharp keens at his moves. Newt murmured to her as he moved, but Percival couldn’t spare him any attention. 

He felt her moan and gasp as her nub got hard before she let out a loud moan and nearly collapsed flat on the bed. Her body was loose and rubbery and his hand was utterly soaked with her juices. She was ready. 

“Up you get. There’s a good girl, come on.”

Percival murmured as he helped her back to the kneeling position she had been in. He grabbed her hips once more, pulling her backwards so that he’d be able to slip inside her. He bit his lip when he did. She was wet and velvety and so, so warm and tight around his cock. He nearly came right there. It had been far too long since he had been with someone he cared about. 

Much too long. He waited for a few moments his eyes on her back as fought to keep himself in check once again. Once he felt he had enough control, he looked up at Newt, who was only now in front of Tina, his hands on her shoulders as she sucked on his cock. He was biting his lower lip as Tina’s head bobbed up and down on his cock, his eyes dark navy as he was lost in the pleasures she was bringing him.

He groaned at the sight and his hips jerked forward out of their own accord. He held onto Tina tightly when she moved forward a bit. He didn’t want her to choke on Newt and mar the night. No. He gripped her tightly as he undulated his hips, moving so that he touched every inch of her before thrusting. His rhythm didn’t get established until the sixth stroke or so and by that time, he was lost in the physicality of the act, his cock inside her being all he could think about as he moved. 

He did look up a few times to see Newt with his eyes closed and a deep flush stain his face and his chest. His hand was tight on Tina’s shoulder and he was groaning. The sound was like music to Percival’s ears as he kept on moving, his hips snapping back and forth with greater speed as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his mind whited out with the force of his orgasm, which came on so quickly he didn’t have time to register it when it happened. 

His magic burst out as well. Not in a destructive force, but in a feedback loop that had Tina and Newt shuddering and collapsing as they also experienced the pleasure that Percival was feeling. It had drained them, that feedback. So much so that they simply collapsed. They fell in a loose-limbed heap onto the bed and only moved to curl up around each other before falling into a deep slumber. 

~*~*~*~*~*

The morning light hitting Newt in the face was the only reason why he was awake at such a ridiculous hour. He was also too warm and he was feeling pretty sticky as well as utterly exhausted. What exactly had he been doing last night?

He cracked open one eye to see Tina’s messy brown head on his chest. He turned his head when an arm tightened around his middle and saw Percival’s dark head resting on his shoulder. His face was utterly relaxed and peaceful, making him look carefree and years younger than he had ever looked for as long as Newt had known him. 

It was a good look on him and Newt knew it wasn’t just the intimacy of the night before that had done its work. No. It was equal parts consummation of the ties that bound them, physical release and exorcising old ghosts. Despite Grindelwald being long gone, his spectre had haunted Percival still. It wasn’t as obvious as it had been before Theseus had arrived, but traces had lingered. 

Yet today, Newt couldn’t sense them at all. Not even the faintest trace lingered. Grindelwald’s damage was finally gone. He had been banished and Percival was utterly and completely free of him.

The memories were a different matter. Newt knew from experience that they would take a little longer to lose their sting. He was still occasionally assaulted by memories of Leta at the oddest times. Even though he was sure that he had no feelings for her any longer, the memories would come to haunt him and remind him that once upon a time, he did care for her deeply. 

She hadn’t been as bad as Grindelwald. But she did enough damage in her own way. 

Sighing, Newt rubbed his face and carefully slid out from between the slumbering forms of his lovers.  _ His lovers.  _ He liked the sound of that word, how it tasted on his tongue as he rolled it over in his mind. After Leta, he had resigned himself to sharing his life only with his creatures. To have not just Percival, but Tina in his life had been beyond his wildest hopes and imaginings. 

He was thankful they had come into his life and he would never tire of them. How could he? They were both amazing in their own way and complimented each other and him in many different ways. The longer he got to know Percival and Tina, the more he stopped being surprised at their magic calling to each other and intertwining whenever there was a chance to do so. 

He shook his head and stood up, stretching the kinks from sleep out before turning to look at his partners. He nearly jumped in surprise when he saw that Percival was awake and had pulled Tina close and was running his fingers through her mussed up hair, smoothing it down. He saw Newt’s look and only raised an eyebrow, mouthing the words “Head Auror” to Newt’s silent query. 

Newt smirked as he grabbed his trouser and shirt. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Percival’s skills had been rapidly coming back and according to Tina, they were nearly up to the same level that they had been before Grindelwald had done his best to break him. He had known that they were training whenever he was taking care of the creatures in his case. Well, most of them, since the Niffler had stubbornly stuck to Percival and was usually found happily clutching whatever shiny coins Percival had in his coat pockets while nestled in the aforementioned coat. 

Remembering the Niffler, he looked around the room, his face burning as he wondered whether the Niffler had been an unwitting witness to last night. Percival saw him scan the room and shook his head, jerking his head in the direction of the pantry, where the Niffler’s second nest had been installed. Newt breathed a sigh of relief and finished pulling on his trousers and shirt, leaving them unbuttoned. He was going to shower, so there was no point in getting fully dressed.

“Are you going to shower?” 

Percival asked in such a soft voice that Newt nearly missed it as he headed out. He looked back and nodded. Gently, he slid out from a still sleeping Tina and grabbed his trousers. He only paused to press a soft kiss on her shoulder and slip his trousers up as he headed out the door, his eyes on Newt. The way he looked at Newt was enough to make his face burn again. 

It also made him wonder what exactly would happen once they went to the bath.

He didn’t have to wonder for long. Once the water was running hot enough and they had brushed their teeth, Percival was all over him. His mouth latched on Newt’s throat, making him gasp and squeak as he was pressed against the tiles. He knew, as Percival kissed him and prepped him with some bath oil that this was what he had been expecting ever since he had looked back and had seen Percival’s dark eyes fixed on him.

He relished it when Percival took control and entered him as Newt wrapped his legs around his waist and his arms around his shoulders. All of him was singing as Percival took him. Not roughly, but steadily, looking at Newt with each thrust, making Newt’s head slide against the tiles as he received all of it in open-mouthed, silent pleasure that lasted until Percival hit that spot inside him just right. His vision streaked with gold and sparks at the sensations that kept on going, getting faster and more intense as Percival timed his thrusts just right until Newt’s vision blacked out and he exploded.

Percival leaned into him, moving four times in jerky motions before he too, finished with a grunt. 

~*~*~*~*~*

Tina was woken up by the smell of bacon and good, strong coffee wafting in the room. She sat up and blushed when she found herself naked. Last night’s experiences coming back in a flood that had her face hot and flushed as she gathered up her clothing and sprinted to the bathroom, where she washed off the evidence of last night. She refused to look at the marks on her body and left them. She had a rare day off and the men had seen them. 

She paused in finger combing her hair at the thought of Percival and Newt being  _ her _ men. But it was true. They were hers. Just like she was theirs. They had more than proven it last night. She refused to be ashamed that she had been in bed with two men at the same time. How could she, when she loved them and they loved her in turn? No. She refused to give in to the small pangs of doubt. 

She shrugged her shoulders and refused to think about the possible whispers and gossip. It wasn’t anyone else’s business but theirs and she was not about to let the entire world into what was a private matter between them. It was theirs.  

She moved towards the shower that looked like it had been used,  wincing at the delicious soreness between her legs. It  _ had _ been a while since she had happened. She smirked a bit at the memory of  _ how _ she had gotten that way.  It had been different, but enjoyable that was for certain. 

She would make sure to keep that hidden when she saw Queenie though. She had to lay the proper groundwork to build up to that with her sister. It was quite a different matter than Queenie figuring out she had kissed Tommy Flanagan behind the Horned Serpent dorms after curfew. No. 

She pushed the thought firmly out of her mind as she started the shower. She’d deal with that when the time came. Right now, she had to get clean, grab breakfast and spend time with her men.

Once she was presentable, she headed to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to take in the interplay of Newt and Percival. They stood side by side, looking out the window, cups of tea and coffee in their hands while they spoke in low voices, their free hands tangled together. Breakfast was set and being kept warm for her along with a cup of coffee.

Percival was the first to notice her and she wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t the department of security for nothing. He smiled at her, his eyes soft and dark as his entire face lit up, making her heart stutter just a bit.

She had always thought he was handsome, but in an academic way. He was her superior. He was from one of the original families. She was the granddaughter of immigrants. So many reasons existed for them to not ever know each other intimately. Yet, here she was, standing in his kitchen while he looked at her like she was precious china.

And he was  _ hers. _

Newt noticed and also turned around to give her a similar smile that made her return it as she walked towards them.

“Well, shall we eat?”

She asked after kissing Percival and then Newt and sitting down. 

“Of course. Newt, will you pass the butter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percival-He gets to call the shots because Newt and Tina know he had no agency when he was getting assaulted by Grindelwald. It's the trauma and the traces of it that had them making this decision, since he needs to take this back to make his severance from Grindelwald's assault complete.  
> This isn't a sex cures all. But rather him being able to enjoy being with two people he trusts and loves in an intimate setting without freaking out. Sort of pseudo-quasi-semi autobiographical here.   
> OT3-I'm sure these existed on the downlow back in the day and even though it's a bit scandalous, they did work. It was just ignored as long as people were discreet.   
> Last chapter will be a coda of sorts.


	10. To The Edge of the World, It's a Brand New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percival makes decisions about the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is more or less a coda that ties up what happens after Graves has gotten his stuff sorted out and what his future hold with Tina and Newt.   
> Title is from 30 Seconds to Mars "This is War"

Newt leaned against the doorframe and watched as Percival knotted his new tie. It was red, a completely different colour from any of the ones he had in the past. It was a bright splash of colour into the usual sombre colours of the rest of his suit and coat. Yet even though they were dark, it wasn’t the black he had favoured before, but a dark charcoal that suited him better. 

It was brand new, like everything else in his wardrobe. Percival had gotten rid of his old wardrobe the minute that he had entered the brownstone. The scorch marks behind the new wardrobe where the only proof of what had happened. Although Tina had bitten her lip and Newt had looked slightly sad at the loss of an antique, they could understand why Percival didn’t want to have anything left that had personally touched Grindelwald. 

“So today is the day, then?”

Newt asked, making Percival look up from his tie and smile softly at Newt before he nodded. 

He gave himself one last cursory look, nodded to his reflection and turned his attention to Newt. 

“It’s about time that I did this, to be honest. I’d rather that I start anew.”

Newt nodded as he came into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around Percival’s neck. 

“It’s not something easy, so I’m very proud of you for even starting this, Director Graves.”

Newt said before kissing him gently.

He had seen the small bit of darkness around Percival’s eyes when he talked about starting anew and Newt was sure that Percival was thinking of Grindelwald again. 

Percival closed his eyes and lost himself in the kiss. He knew why Newt was doing it, but he didn’t mind. The less there was of him left in the house the better. Percival knew that his partners were concerned about the changes he was implementing in his house. He was all too aware of the weight of his family history. He never could escape it, and he was honestly sick of it. He had spent nearly a lifetime living up to it in so many aspects. And what had it gotten him? Nearly disassembled and destroyed. 

He was done being a slave to his family’s legacy. 

He had a chance to build up a new life that only belonged to him. A life that he wanted to share only with Newt and Tina. He was done trying to carry the burdens of the world on his shoulders. It had been fine when there was only work and the legacy of his family to continue. 

It wasn’t enough now that he would wake up with Tina spooning him and Newt’s head resting on his chest. Having that in his life mattered more than cold offices and plaques that wouldn’t keep him warm at night. Or wish him a good day at work in the morning. Or have his back on a particularly harrowing sting. 

All of these were provided by Newt and Tina and it was all too apparent to him that how he was living before Grindelwald and Newt breaking and rebuilding his life wasn’t going to cut it anymore. He had made up his mind and had already composed the letter he would personally give Seraphina. 

“Percival! Newt! Come on! We’re going to be late!”

Tina called out from the depths of the kitchen, making them pull apart somewhat reluctantly. 

“That’s my cue. You’re going to be working on revisions today?”

Percival asked as he pressed one last light kiss on Newt’s cheekbone, making him flush and smile awkwardly. He nodded and tried to look at everything else, but Percival. It was endearing for Percival to see Newt get so flustered at the fact that Percival and Tina showed him some affection. He had more or less gotten over the past trauma that Leda had inflicted on him, but there were still times when it appeared. Percival smiled and tilted Newt’s face up to look into his eyes. 

“Good. I was worried that you’d be bored with us gone again today.”

Newt’s eyes softened. “No. I have the creatures and a few experiments and collections I have to take care of. You don’t have to worry about me at all.”

He leaned in to give Percival another embrace and was startled by an angry squeak coming from Percival’s pocket.

They jumped apart and Newt put his hand on his chest, his colour high as he saw what had made the noise. The Niffler stuck his head out of the pocket and chirped angrily, clearly not liking being squished between his two daddies, as Queenie had begun to teasingly call them when she saw Percival and Newt trying to coax the Niffler from Percival’s pockets, his preferred hiding place ever since Percival had used him as a safety blanket during the roughest days of his convalescence. 

“Do you want him to come to work with you? I could find something…”

Newt’s voice trailed off as they made their way to the kitchen. Tina would no doubt be impatient and neither man would have blamed her. She  _ had  _ been expecting them for awhile. And even though it was painfully obvious that she was dating the boss, she didn’t want to seem as if she was taking advantage of the situation. 

Or the fact that she was his under-deputy and near as close as being the second in command along with O’Connor and Espinoza, who had been moved up from the ranks after several successful assignments. She was all too aware of the gossip mill, since Queenie was privy to it and the sisters often made it a point to meet as often as they could to spend time together and trade tidbits of their lives. Or in Queenie’s case, what she had overhead from the secretary pool. 

Tina would always share the tips with Percival and Newt, since he had been hired on some capacity as a consultant when he wasn’t busy editing and revising his book. Or taking care of the creatures that were still living in case, some of them too domesticated to live on their own or simply too dangerous to be released. 

Like the Pukwudgies he had found in Spain. He should have released them months ago, but they had hidden themselves when he had brought up the possibility. Newt had respected their wishes and had done a few trips to study their habitat and make it as lifelike as possible. 

Thinking of habitats, he looked down at the unrepentant Niffler, who simply looked up at Newt. He was Percival’s favourite and could count on spending a productive time smuggling shiny things out of MACUSA until he was caught. 

“No. Leave him. He’s not as much of a pain as he used to be.”

The Niffler gave him a beady glare before snuggling deeper into his pocket, making Percival and Newt snicker before they rushed to the kitchen, where they found Tina in the act of putting on her hat. Percival’s coat was in her hand and her eyes on the clock. She sighed impatiently when she saw them arrive. 

“Finally! If we leave now, we won’t be late. Bye Newt! Have a good day!”

Tina said as she quickly pecked Newt on the lips, grabbed Percival and rushed out the door, both of them disappearing in the hallway, leaving Newt in the kitchen. 

He shook his head and went to make himself a cup of tea before he would get down to work. Revision wasn’t his favourite thing, but it had to be done. 

With a shrug, he went to the kettle. Time to start the day.

~*~*~*~*

Seraphina folded her hands under her chin and gave Percival a long level look as he stood there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Despite the defensive posture, he didn’t look like he was there for a fight. Rather, he looked like it was a done deal and he wasn’t going to change his mind. 

She looked down at the letter that was now lying on the blotter of her desk and read it through again. She knew, just by glancing at the points laid out in Graves’ usual meticulous manner that it hadn’t been a spur of the moment decision. He had thought about it long and hard during the year and four months he had been gone. 

She wanted to say that she hadn’t seen it coming. That she had expected him to solider on and shoulder the almost crushing burden of his past workload. Yet when she had seen him in the hospital and how lost and broken he had been before Goldstein and Scamander had taken him in hand, she had known that the Graves she had worked with was gone. 

Scamander and Goldstein had done their job well in helping him come back from that shaky, scarred up shell Grindelwald had left him. And if she was losing her capable director in the process, she couldn’t quite find it in herself to persuade him to rethink his position. Not when he had prevailed where lesser men had failed. 

Still, she had to give it a try despite knowing all too well what the answer was going to be. 

“I will not insult your intelligence by asking if you are sure about your decision. You have clearly laid it out for me to read what your conditions are. I also am aware that you have had plenty of time to evaluate your life and priorities. You went through a time that would have broken a lesser man. If you choose to completely walk away from your position, despite me not being pleased, I would understand.”

She unfolded her hands and stood up. 

“The council too, would understand, since some harboured suspicions while others doubted your capabilities of doing your job.”

Percival shook his head. “Try to forgive me if I am not surprised, Madame President.”

Seraphina smiled tightly. “I’ll try not to be, Percival.”

She looked down at the letter again. 

“I know this is a complete resignation, but would you consider taking a part time position with MACUSA? An attache, perhaps? Grindelwald is starting to make waves again in Europe. It would be wise for us to keep an eye out, despite the No Maj world deciding to do otherwise with Grindelwald’s appendage.”

Seraphina pointed out delicately. Percival frowned, knowing that she was right. Theseus’ letters had hinted as much. 

“I’m done with war, Seraphina. After the trenches, I vowed to not go back. Ever.”

Seraphina bowed her head. She had pushed too soon. 

“I respect that. I’m not asking you to. I simply want you to consider it. Take as much time as you need to think over the offer.”

She placated him, not wanting him to completely rebel against the idea. He gave her a look under those dark lashes of his that told her he knew damned well what game she was playing at. He also knew that she was offering the position in deference to his experience and the chance to not completely walk away from the only life he had known for most of his adult life. 

Percival may have been scarred by his experiences, but he was a warrior through and through and they both knew that. He wouldn’t ever be a complete pacifist. 

“When will your resignation take effect?”

Seraphina asked him as she pulled the letter towards her with one hand, while she tapped her seal onto it with the other before she placed it in one of her desk trays. 

“Three weeks from now. I know that the department needs that much time to get used to the new Department Head and how they will run it once I am out of the picture.”

Percival replied. He would have liked to leave right away, but he hadn’t been involved in MACUSA to not know that a handover always took time. Plus, he could think about the attache position after discussing it with Newt and Tina, of course. 

Damn Seraphina for knowing him far too well. 

~*~*~*~*

Theseus let the door slam shut behind him, murmuring a few words to get the wards and seals up. He was utterly exhausted, having worked a double in the Orkneys tracking down a ring of contraband spells and potions. It had been a rough and tedious assignment and all that he wanted at that moment was to shower, crawl into bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours. 

He yawned widely, rubbing his eyes roughly with his fingers as he tried to coax a bit more wakefulness to get those tasks done. 

Theseus got his coat and shoes put away before stumbling into the bathroom for the quickest bath he’d ever had. Once he was dried and dressed in pajamas, he crawled into bed and promptly surrendered to sleep. 

The next thing he knew, a loud and insistent rapping dragged him out of sleep. 

Stumbling out of bed and cursing all the while, he yanked the window open to reveal an owl bearing a large letter. He paid it after grabbing the letter and letting it out, trying his best to not take out his irritability at the poor animal who was just doing its job. 

He wanted to grumble over being woken up, but his protests died on his lips when he saw the name on the front, written in that same copperplate script that he recalled from the days in the trenches. 

Exhaustion forgotten, he ripped it open to reveal a fancifully engraved invitation and a tersely worded invitation to America.

“ _ I normally wouldn’t bribe you with seeing us again, Theseus. Yet Percival in his work, has cause to be alarmed. We would dearly love to have you here to witness our marriage. Mother and father too. Maybe all of you could stay in America for awhile.  It’s been so long since we were together.  _

_ Please consider it. I know it’s sudden, but could it be possible for you to do so? _

_ As always,  your loving brother. _

_ Newton Scamander (Soon to be Graves) ” _

It would mean pissing off the Ministry, but they wouldn’t have a choice in letting him go. They had, after all, been on him to take a break and let the other Aurors get more cases. It looked like Grindelwald had disappeared into Austria for the time being. He didn’t trust the calm and was well aware that Newt and Percival had more information that they could use in the Ministry. 

Without anymore preamble, he hunted down a quill, ink and some parchment that looked passable. 

“ _ Dear Newt,  _

_ Of course I’ll come. Give mother and father some time. I trust that you have sent them messages? Mention that I am coming. That should speed things up. I can arrive in a week. I look forward to seeing you, Tina and Percival.  _

_ Congratulations, by the way and give everyone my love. _

_ Your loving brother,  _

_ Theseus.” _

~*~*~*~*

“Are you happy?”

Tina asked Percival as they moved through the dimly lit dance floor that contained a mixture of MACUSA workers and British wizards, since Theseus and Newt’s parents had brought a small contingent of their friends and family to represent Newt at the subtle ceremony. Newt himself was red-faced and dancing with Lopez, who was tipsy and giggling as they danced as best as they could. Queenie danced with a young Auror named Murray, who made her laugh even though there was a wistful edge to her happiness.

Percival looked down at her and pointedly looked at the two rings on her hand. One that he had put there, a simple silver band he thought he would never get to use and a plain gold that came from Newt. They matched her dress, done in cream and picked out with gold and silver stitching. He would have to thank Seraphina personally later on. 

She was quite taken with Theseus and despite the sight making him take a misstep or two when he had first seen them dancing and talking together, he had to admit that they were evenly matched. Especially if they decided to take it further, if the sultry gazes they were throwing each other were any hint as to what was in store in their future.

“You both wear my rings. After years of thinking it would never happen, how could I not be?”

He whispered, looking at her through his lashes, a small, tentative smile curving his lips as he spoke. He waited for TIna to return his forthright gaze before he gathered her closer and kissed her. Slow, teasing and soft, the kiss made her eyes flutter and a quiet moan escape her throat. 

When the kiss was done, it was in time to find Newt beside them. 

Without hesitation, Percival pulled him in, kissing him in the same manner as he had done with their wife. 

“I’m glad we can be happy together, Director Graves.”

Tina murmured teasingly as Percival squeezed her waist, making her jump a bit and squeak before she leaned against Percival on his left, while Percival stood on his right side. 

“Me too. Are you happy with us too, Newt?”

Percival asked, brushing Newt’s fringe back and causing Newt to smile so wide that it left Percival breathless and with a small ache just underneath his breastbone as to how once again, he had been so lucky to have found him and Tina and share his life with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graves-He more or less becomes a consultant/diplomat. This is before WWII broke out, so he'd be aware of the conflict brewing, yet not quite close to get into the fray. He's a soldier, as Seraphina says, but he's done with the field. It's not in him any longer to go out there as he once did.  
> Graves/Newt/Tina-They are together and have had a ceremony to mark that. It's tacitly accepted. Despite MACUSA being isolationist, they are more forgiving of other things and this would be one of them.


End file.
